ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After months of complaints about irregularly high water bills, a St. Petersburg City Council committee has selected the billing and collections department for a formal management evaluation.
“We can’t ignore the letters we have been receiving,” said St. Pete Council Member Lisset Hanewicz.Â
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The backstory:
The spike in sky-high water bills was particularly prominent after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, though issues began before and continued after those storms. Between July 2024 and April 2025, the city adjusted more than 12,000 bills.
This spring, council also changed several procedures intended to make it easier for customers to get help when a bill looks irregular. Despite those changes, residents continue to contact FOX 13, saying their bills and the help process still don’t add up to relief.
One resident, Michelle McConnell, told FOX 13 her experience doesn’t reflect the fixes City Hall describes. She opened a $2,000 bill in January and since then, she still has not gotten it resolved.
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Why you should care:
“I think the evaluation is important in terms of transparency,” said Hanewicz.
The subcommittee cited ongoing media reports and continued calls from residents as a reason for taking a closer look at management and operations inside the utility billing office.
“I think we owe it to our constituents to let them know we are doing something now,” said St. Pete Council Member Deborah Figgs-Sanders.
The management evaluation is expected to examine procedures and policy. The subcommittee will set the scope and parameters of the evaluation at a later date.
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“We need to look at the actual bones of the department, how we interface with the public,” said St. Pete Council Member Brandi Gabbard.
This comes at a time when the city is switching software, for the first time in 25-30 years. The new system is expected to be live in summer 2026.Â
In the meantime, the evaluation will give council an idea if there are other issues to address.
What’s next:
The evaluation requires the vote of the full council. They have $125,000 in the budget for the review.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered during a city committee meeting, interviews with customers, city data and previous FOX 13 News reports.Â