ST. PETERSBURG — St. Petersburg City Council agreed Thursday to conduct a management review of its troubled water billing department after more than a year of resident complaints over erroneous bills, some exceeding $50,000 in Pinellas County, here in Florida.
According to WFLA Local Channel 8, the decision came during a Budget, Finance, and Taxation Committee meeting, where council members acknowledged persistent problems that left residents facing bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. One customer received a bill exceeding $300,000 before last year’s hurricanes, according to reports.
“The core job of city council is to manage this city and to hold an administration responsible when clearly they have a problem,” Matthew Weidner, an attorney and president of the Eden Isle Civic Association, told WFLA Local Channel 8.
Council member Brandi Gabbard, who proposed the review, said complaints continue flooding in from frustrated residents. She credited local media coverage for keeping pressure on city officials to address the crisis.
City records show council approved a $65,000 contract in March for consultants to study billing problems tied to hurricanes Helene and Milton. But residents like Weidner say taxpayers are tired of funding reports without solutions.
“They don’t need to hire consultants and spend another hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money,” Weidner told council members. “They need to have staff come in and explain it to city council.”
City administrators said new billing software called Tyler is expected to launch in mid-2026 to prevent future errors. Council Chair Copley Gerdes cautioned against launching an evaluation while implementing new technology, noting the timing could complicate the review process.
In the meantime, local critics argue the city shouldn’t roll out new systems before explaining what went wrong with the current one. The full council is expected to vote on the management review in the coming weeks.
The water billing problems have persisted since before last hurricane season, with residents receiving monthly bills of several thousand dollars despite normal water usage patterns.