Community Services Supervisor FGUA
Special to the Gazette<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
WHO decides how much to charge?<\/p>\n The rates are established through a multi-step process.\u00a0 First, the utility management and an independent rate analyst review the costs associated with operating the system to determine if there is enough money to operate and maintain the system and meet its loan requirements.\u00a0 Then, after required public hearings, the Board of Directors (designated by member governments) approves or denies the staff rate recommendations.\u00a0 Because the FGUA is not for profit, the rates are not raised unless absolutely required.\u00a0 There is no incentive to raise rates beyond what is needed to operate the system and meet legal obligations to bond holders.\u00a0 The system in Lehigh Acres needs different maintenance and improvements and may have different debt than other systems \u00a0which is why rates will vary between utilities.<\/p>\n WHY do I pay when I\u2019m not even there?<\/p>\n As with most utilities, the FGUA rates have a flat monthly base charge per connection and a flow, or consumption charge, based upon how much water is used. The FGUA Board is conscious of establishing rates that are equitable and fair to each customer of the utility.\u00a0 Since the rates are set to support the facilities that are \u00a0needed by the entire community, even when a home is empty, there is a general cost to maintain the utility system and be ready to support that home when a resident moves back in. \u00a0To ensure that all properties which benefit from the facilities available pay a fair share, \u00a0the FGUA Board implemented an \u201cinactive account charge\u201d in October of 2009. This helps reduce the cost burden on paying customers living in the community with active use.\u00a0 This means that when a customer vacates the property, the legal owner is still responsible to pay a monthly fee, equal to the normal base charge.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard the FGUA is filing liens against properties now \u2013 is this true?<\/p>\n Yes, in some cases, the FGUA is filing liens.\u00a0 The Lehigh Acres area has seen a number of homes stand vacant due to the high number of foreclosures and bankruptcies.\u00a0 Although an unpaid utility bill is essentially a lien, the FGUA has begun filing liens with the county officially to increase collectability of amounts owed to the utility, for the benefit of all other rate payers.\u00a0 Many times these liens are being paid when the property changes hands in the event of a sale and often times the lien will be paid by the bank that assumed the home as a result of a foreclosure.<\/p>\n How can I find out more about where my money goes or what my specific rates are?<\/p>\n The FGUA website, www.fgua.com<\/a>, provides information on rates, budgets, \u00a0financial reports and all other official records associated with the business of the utility.\u00a0 In addition, Lehigh Acres has a Utility Advisory Committee which is made up of community members.\u00a0 These individuals meet every other month with staff to discuss the utility system, current projects or issues, budgets and community outreach efforts.\u00a0 These meetings are held the third Wednesday of even number months at 6:30pm at the Lehigh Acres customer service office and members of the public are welcome to attend.\u00a0 The FGUA Board meetings are also open to the public and the meeting May 17th at 1pm will be held in Lehigh Acres at the Microtel Inn & Suites at 1320 Business Way, Lehigh Acres, FL 33936.\u00a0 For additional information or questions, please contact Donna Lizotte at dlizotte@govmserv.com<\/a> or (239) 543-1005.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Meredith Miller Community Services Supervisor FGUASpecial to the Gazette If you\u2019re a resident of Lehigh Acres, you are likely a water and\/or sewer utility customer of the Florida Governmental… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/FGUA_logo_090521.jpg\" "\\"FGUA_logo_090521\\""){kind=logo}
<\/a>If you\u2019re a resident of Lehigh Acres, you are likely a water and\/or sewer utility customer of the Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA).\u00a0 The FGUA was established in 1999 and is a special purpose governmental entity that \u00a0serves certain communities based upon an agreement with the \u201chost\u201d government (in this case Lee County) which has primary responsibility for the jurisdiction.\u00a0 Although the FGUA is a not for profit government, many customers still feel frustrated over \u00a0rates when comparing their bills to neighboring cities or states and ask questions about why they pay what they do.\u00a0 Below is an explanation of some commonly asked questions related to this utility:<\/p>\n