Budget deficits called ‘shocking and disturbing’ in St. Pete Beach

ST. PETE BEACH — City commissioners expressed shock when they learned of budget shortfalls in wastewater, reclaimed water and stormwater funds that will require the city to find millions of dollars.

Acting Public Works Director Camden Mills provided the city with a grim overview of the enterprise fund that left Mayor Adrian Petrila “furious” that he and the commission were “painted a rosy picture” of the city’s finances. the city by the former staff.

He presented commissioners with the more realistic picture painted by Mills, who has been in the job for only five months, and the new city manager, Fran Robustelli, is “anything but rosy; As we look ahead to the next five years, it’s going to be incredibly difficult. The budget deficits we have are between $4 million and $5 million.

That doesn’t include the $25 million the city will need “just to break even,” he added.

Mills presented a thorough assessment of how the city’s three major enterprise funds were managed and budgeted. Corporate funds are those funded by user fees for specific services rather than taxpayer dollars.

During the service evaluation, he reported, the reclaimed water failed to replace the lateral lines from the private reclaimed water box to the public main after the leak was repaired because it was repaired rather than replaced.

“When we receive reports of leaks requiring repair, our goal would be to do that full replacement due to the age and condition of our infrastructure,” he explained.

However, “due to limited resources in recent years, rather than a complete replacement, they have turned to quick fixes. This is one area where I don’t think we are meeting our current level of service,” he said.

Mills noted that the reclaimed water fund would need about $80,000 more per year to make full replacements of the system rather than just repairing it when it breaks.

Additionally, revenues collected from fees on reclaimed water systems “are not enough to cover expenses.” The city must transfer $381,902 from the general fund to maintain the solvency of the water reclamation fund.

Petrila noted that the water recovery fund collects just enough revenue for users to pay the county’s water cost, while the system itself relies on the city’s general fund to pay for repairs.

Mills told commissioners the stormwater fund depends on drawing $381,902 from the general fund to provide the service. “Expenses exceed revenues,” he noted.

Capital improvement projects planned and budgeted for 2025 in the Stormwater Fund include $1,250,000 for improvements to the Don CeSar Outfall, $625,000 of which is covered by a Resilient Florida grant from the Department of Florida Environmental Protection; $500,000 for Belle Vista baffles and $1 million for Don Cesar baffles; $325,000 for Pass-a-Grille Way tide control values; and $98,470 for drainage improvements on 45th Avenue.

When questioned by the mayor, Mills noted that it does not appear that ongoing maintenance has been performed on the baffles.

“I think it’s an important point,” the mayor said. “We have been told for years that our systems are excellent and that we carry out ongoing maintenance. We were told that everything was fine, that we didn’t know where it came from, but then there is no maintenance on the tide valves?

Mills noted that planned spending in the stormwater fund is $4,642,856, while expected revenue is $2,570,000, and $226,530 will be needed to provide a level of service of high quality.

Another troubled corporate fund involves the wastewater treatment system, where a departmental investigation found deficiencies in the maintenance of pumping stations and in the development and implementation of a water treatment program. inspection of manholes, as well as a pipeline inspection program.

“There is a lot of infrastructure associated with the wastewater treatment program: approximately 2.8 miles of force mains, 41.5 miles of gravity mains, more than 750 manholes, three main pump stations and 18 lift stations,” Mills explained.

Mills pointed out, along the same lines as other corporate funds, that the wastewater fund is also dependent on a $381,902 transfer from the general fund to remain solvent.

Mills said the city undertook a main force improvement project – building three additional lift stations – that “really updated the backbone of our transportation system; the goal was to improve the construction of our community redevelopment district.

“However, I would like to note that the system does not currently have the full capacity to build all the plots on the island for our overall plan, due to the limitations of the bottleneck which would be our No. 1 main pumping station “, he explained.

“At the moment we cannot fully build…until Master Pump Station One is upgraded,” he added.

Petrila asked what the current capacity of the sewer system is, adding: “This is a number that is important to understand, because we have important decisions to make before the commission in the coming weeks and months that will be impacted by this figure.

In recent months, the expansion of resort towns and the ability of the city’s sewer systems to handle additional use has been a hotly debated topic.

Commissioner Lisa Robinson asked, “You said the new force main was beneficial to the redevelopment district, what impact does that have on the residential area?”

Mills responded, “It also impacts them because that main ultimately feeds our No. 1 main pump station, which improves system-wide capacity. »

As part of a major capital improvement fund, $3.8 million is being dedicated to rehabilitating Main Pump Station No. 1. Budgeted expenses in 2025 total $15,311,225, resulting in a service level deficit of $1,602,000, it reported.

Capital projects budgeted in the wastewater fund include $800,000 for inlet and seepage rehabilitation, $375,000 for sewer system cleaning and televising, $40,000 for Force Main One improvements , $50,000 for the value of air emissions, installation and rehabilitation, and the largest and most expensive item, 6 $050,000 for Rehabilitation of Pumping Station 1, for a total of $7,315,000. The city received a $2 million grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to help cover part of the cost of Pump Station One.

The wastewater treatment system also suffered significant damage from the storm: $2,032,296 in emergency repairs to Pump Station 1, while the other 20 lift stations suffered $3,415,631 in damage. damage.

Mills noted that in about four years, the city will need to consider how it will allocate $15 million to replace the transmission line connecting Pump Station 1 to the St. Petersburg Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Petrila said he was “furious” that “we are not even meeting our current obligations and that somehow over the next five years we will have to find $25 million.” in the sanitary sewer fund. He called the report “shocking and disturbing information that we have.”

“Our long-term goal would be to implement a rate structure that adequately serves this fund so that it can be as self-sustaining as possible,” Mills suggested.