Chiefland Mayor Floats Idea of Selling City Water; Commission Raises Fire Tax to $159

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

Chiefland City Commissioners are discussing the possibility of selling water to neighboring communities to raise additional revenue.

The board agreed at their most recent meeting to invite the executive director of the Suwannee River Water Management District, Tim Alexander, to speak to the commission about the possibility of selling water.

Mayor Chris Jones brought up the issue of water sales. He said his highest priority is to protect Chiefland residents, but at the same time, the city is short on revenue, and selling water might offset the lack of operating funds.

The city has a balanced budget going into the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, but one of the decisions commissioners made at the meeting was to raise the city’s residential fire tax from $129 to $159 per home to support the fire department.

Non-residential properties in the commercial district will pay 5 cents per square foot and vacant land owners will pay a flat $10. The commission felt it could balance its budget without the additional revenue.

Commissioner Rollin Hudson cast the lone vote in opposition to the increase in the fire tax increase. Residents with very low income can apply for a 100 percent exemption from the fire tax.

Jones raised the issue of possibly selling water from the city’s capped wellhead north of town as a way of supplementing the city’s revenues. He said he had talked to Alexander about that possibility.

He said Alexander indicated there were 13 sources of revenue available in Tallahassee to assist the city in establishing a means of selling water and he felt there was no better time than now to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I want to see if there is a possibility of the city coming on board with something. I won’t say agreement – if there’s something that could be brought forward for the city to entertain,” Jones said.

City Commissioner Norman Weaver said there are more than 50 companies in Florida selling bottled water. He said the city would have to provide the infrastructure at the well head for the bottling company to use.

“I was thinking like bringing the truck to the well and they pay so much a gallon and take it and go. It wouldn’t take that much to do it like that,” Weaver said.

Jones was thinking more along the lines of selling water to neighboring communities. He said the wellhead property north of Chiefland is connected to one of the purest aquifers in the state.

Commissioner Rollin Hudson said he thought the idea of selling water to neighboring communities could cause the city problems. He said the city would likely have to join a water authority to run a pipeline to a community like Trenton, for example, the authority would retain the power to decide if rates could be raised, not the city.

“You’re not charging for the water. The entity of the water authority is in charge of it. I think it’s a bad idea,” Hudson said.

The city has discussed selling water to neighboring communities in the past. One issue raised was whether the city would have the power to cut off water or reduce water flow to a neighboring city if Chiefland needed the water for its own needs, in a drought for example. At the time, City Attorney Norm Fugate said he would have to research the issue to find the answer. The commission dropped the issue.

If the city contracted with a water bottling company to sell water to the firm, a similar question would be on the table. Could the city write a clause into the contract that would allow Chiefland to end its relationship with the company in 30 days, for example, if the city needed the water for its own residents? The wellhead property north of town is the city’s reserve water supply should either of its current wells or both wells, fail for some reason.

Alexander will be asked many questions when he appears before the board.

Jones said inviting Alexander to a city commission to answer questions isn’t a commitment to selling water.

“It’s no skin off anyone’s back. They have attorneys, we have attorneys. Obviously, before we sign anything we bring it before Mr. Fugate and if he says that’s garbage, we don’t deal with it,” Jones said.

Jones said Alexander indicated Florida has a governor, Ron DeSantis, who is willing to work with small communities to help them. Alexander said he has a good working relationship with the governor.

The discussion of the possibility of selling water comes at a time when the cities of Bronson, Otter Creek, and Cedar Key are seriously discussing the possibility of forming a tri-city utility to provide higher quality water to Otter Creek and Cedar Key. The wellhead would be somewhere in the vicinity of Bronson.

Jones mentioned these discussions when he began explaining his interest in selling water to raise additional revenue for the city.