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Lee utility authority looking for funds

• Lee's utilities authority seeks another cash infusion from the county's general fund.

Susan McCord

LEESBURG — Lee County’s utilities authority needs another supplement from the county’s general fund for the upcoming fiscal year, this time in the neighborhood of $400,000.

The county board of commissioners and utilities authority board held a joint meeting Tuesday to reach an understanding about the supplement, and to iron out several other issues about Lee’s wastewater treatment plant.

Utilities authority general manager Chris Boswell likened the county’s wastewater treatment plant to a Chevy Suburban purchased by a couple that planned to raise a large family, but doesn’t.

In operation for six years, the plant is operating at reduced capacity, treating only 444,000 of the 1 million gallons of wastewater it could be treating each day, Boswell said.

The authority reserved 300,000 gallons for commercial and industrial development until last year, when it adopted a first-come, first serve policy, he said.

Reserving gallons for certain types of development amounted to “shooting in the dark,” county attorney Jimmy Skipper said, setting aside usage for types of development that may or may not come, and could lead to legal challenges.

Starting in July, the authority will have to begin repaying several additional loans, Boswell said.

The county has given the authority $4.9 million since 2000, Commissioner Ed Duffy said.

The county’s supplements from its general fund have grown smaller, from a height of $902,933 in 2003 to only $365,220 in 2007, utilities administrator Tricia Quinn said.

Duffy said the session was “very beneficial” for both boards, and the $400,000 supplement ensures the utilities authority won’t have to raise tap fees to $6,572.

The authority increased usage fees from $2,145 to about $4,000 as of April 18, Quinn said.

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