Fact Check: Same Water, Higher Bill?

You’ve probably seen the comment: “All you did was raise water prices for the same water.” We get it. Bills went up a lot, and nobody on the commission pretends otherwise. Victoria voted for the rate plan in 2023, and so did every other commissioner. But “same water” isn’t what the increase pays for. Here’s what’s actually on your bill, why it went up, what it has bought so far and what Victoria is pushing for next.

Here’s the short version: most of the increase isn’t drinking water. It’s sewer. For a typical home using 5,000 gallons a month, the drinking water charge went up about $8 since 2023. The sewer charge went up about $37. That money is replacing two sewer plants that are more than 50 years old and were already in trouble with state regulators before Victoria took office.

The facts

1. “It’s the same water.”
The claim: The city raised prices and you’re getting the same water for more money.
What the record shows: Your city utility bill isn’t one charge. It’s five: drinking water, sewer, stormwater, trash pickup and a 10 percent utility tax on the water line. Drinking water is the smallest piece of the increase. On the city’s own rate sheets, a 5,000-gallon home paid $14.80 for water and $39.69 for sewer before the 2023 rate plan. As of Oct. 1, 2026, it’s $22.68 for water and $76.82 for sewer. Water is up $7.88. Sewer is up $37.13. That’s about 82 percent of the water and sewer increase, and it’s mainly the sewer side that’s being rebuilt.
Bottom line: it’s not the same water bill. It’s mostly a sewer bill, and the sewer system is what’s being replaced.

Where a typical bill goes today (one home, 3/4-inch meter, 5,000 gallons, one trash cart, city rates as of Oct. 1, 2026):

Sewer: $76.82 (about 52 cents of every dollar). $26.02 base charge plus $10.16 per 1,000 gallons, charged on the first 10,000 gallons. This is what pays for the new plants.
Trash and recycling: $30.17 (about 21 cents). Trash pickup, not water.
Drinking water: $22.68 (about 15 cents). $10.48 base charge plus $2.44 per 1,000 gallons.
Stormwater: $15.00 (about 10 cents). Ponds, pipes and drainage, set separately from water and sewer.
Utility tax on water: $2.27 (about 2 cents). 10 percent of the water charge.
Total: about $146.94 a month. Your bill will differ with your usage, meter size and any irrigation or reclaimed meter.

2. “They just raised prices.”
The claim: The increases were a choice, not a need.
What the record shows: The city’s two wastewater plants are more than 50 years old and past their useful life. In January 2021, a discharge from the West plant caused a fish kill in Lake Audubon and the state cited 24 possible violations. In December 2021, the state put the East plant under a consent order. Victoria was elected in November 2022, after all of that. The 2023 rate study found the old rates couldn’t cover operations, loan covenants and a $166.4 million capital plan. About $126 million of that plan, roughly three out of every four dollars, was sewer: $115.9 million for the treatment plants and $10.4 million for sewer lines and lift stations. At the time, the city brought in about $12 million a year in water and sewer revenue. On Dec. 11, 2023, the commission adopted the five-year rate schedule 5 to 0, with Victoria voting yes. Since then the plants have gotten more expensive, not less: the estimate for both went from $112 million in 2023 to about $158 million in 2025. Your bill also still carries older utility debt, about $2.4 million a year in FY 2027, including bonds from 2000. In January 2025 the state sent another warning letter about the East plant, and the city paid $51,310 in penalties.
Bottom line: the increases pay for plants that had to be replaced and the loans that pay for them. Leaving them for later would have cost more.

3. “And we got nothing for it.”
The claim: The money is going up and nothing is getting fixed.
What the record shows: In March 2026, the commission approved a guaranteed maximum price of $65.8 million for the new East plant, below the city’s $72.8 million estimate. Construction started this summer and is set to finish in late 2028. Most of it is paid with low-interest state loans instead of cash up front: a $54.1 million construction loan, plus a $19.1 million hurricane recovery loan where about $9.5 million never has to be paid back. Victoria voted to apply for that loan in February 2026. The city also got a $600,000 grant for the project. In September 2025, she voted to bring in a new plant operator, Woodard & Curran. On the drinking water side, the FY 2027 budget funds $1 million in tray aerators at the water plants, and Winter Springs won Best Tasting Drinking Water in Central Florida in 2026.
Bottom line: the rate money is building the first new sewer plant now, at a guaranteed price, with low-cost state money doing a lot of the lifting.

4. “It’ll just keep going up.”
The claim: There’s no end and no plan.
What the record shows: Here’s the honest schedule. The 2023 rate ordinance has one more step, in October 2027, which takes the water and sewer part of a 5,000-gallon bill from $99.50 to $109.84. After that, city code goes back to yearly inflation (CPI) adjustments starting in October 2028. The city’s rate consultant said in 2025 that more increases could be needed after 2028 as costs rise, and the West plant still has to be built. Construction funding for it is expected to be applied for in 2027. Victoria isn’t promising your bill will drop. Here’s what she’s on record pushing for:

Use the loan forgiveness on your bill. In August 2026, she asked the city manager to factor the state loan forgiveness into future water and sewer rate studies to hold down future increases.
A 12-month pause. She will push for a 12-month pause on the next scheduled water and sewer increase, using loan forgiveness and any new grants to soften the schedule.
The cheapest money for the West plant. Low-interest state loans and grants first, before costlier bank or bond debt.
Finish the East plant on time and on budget, with milestones reported in public.
Fix pipes and lift stations worst first, on a schedule, instead of waiting for breaks.
Straight answers. Every rate change comes with a plain explanation of what it pays for, and utility fees never become a back door to fund anything else.

Bottom line: it isn’t the same water. Most of the increase is the sewer system our city should have replaced years ago. It’s being rebuilt now, and Victoria is pushing to make it cost you less.

Questions about your water or utility bill? Let us know in the comments, or call or text Victoria at (321) 348-6017.