DELTONA, Fla. – Deltona residents are facing new challenges with water bills — not just high costs, but steep deposit fees to turn water on at a new address.
Cynthia Scott shared her shock: “$500 for water and deposit, $150 for reclaimed water, and a $55 activation fee.”
The Scotts were moving their account to a new house, not starting fresh, but the amount surprised them.
[EXCLUSIVE:Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE)| PINIT!Share your photos]
“Nobody gave us this information in writing. It was all verbal,” Cynthia said.
She and her husband Matt said they tried calling and visiting city hall multiple times over three weeks but hit walls. They believed they should be exempt from the deposit since they were not new customers, as the city’s master plan suggests.
They reached out to News 6 for help.
“It’s not a matter of people having to choose between putting food on their table and turning the water on,” Matt Scott said.
Commissioner Emma Santiago said the new fees aim to cover unpaid bills that taxpayers previously absorbed.
“It happens to unfortunately be renters – they either leave and don’t pay the final bill or throughout time they accumulate that,” Santiago said.
In October, the city commission unanimously approved a new fee plan, switching from deposits based on meter size to a credit score-based system.
“In the last fifteen years — last year we found out it was close to $2 million that the city had to write off and that’s a lot,” Santiago added.
While other utility companies use credit scores for deposits, residents like the Scotts wish the city would reconsider its deposit rates under its new system.
“If they’re using this as a utility credit scoring, then why is it so much different than the electric company’s scoring,” questioned Cynthia Scott.
The city’s master plan sent to News 6 categorizes fees by good, average, and poor credit but does not specify ranges.
The full master fee resolution can be found here.