- December 4, 2025
Like the tax rate, Ormond Beach's utility rates are likely to increase — just not as much as originally proposed.
During the City Commission's workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 19, commissioners gave staff the green light to proceed on the following rate increases for water and wastewater:
Residential or commercial users who pay the minimum bill — using less than 2,000 gallons of water or wastewater a month — will see no increase in their bills.
The average user (someone who uses 6,000 gallons) will see an average increase of $4.96 a month in their utility bill, down from the initially proposed increase of $11.59, City Finance Director Kelly McGuire said. Customers who use 3,000 gallons a month will see an increase of $1.25 in their bills.
"That's not going to fund everything we need, but that will be a starting point, and that will give us time to implement some of the things that you indicated were of concern," McGuire said.
Namely, users who receive a minimum bill but are not using 2,000 gallons of water or wastewater. The city plans to address that, and weigh whether the fees are fairly distributed between residential and commercial users, McGuire said. But, to do that, they have to restructure rates.
As the city is in the middle of a rate study, McGuire said staff was proposing the rate increase go into effect on Oct. 1. Staff will use water and wastewater fund reserves to offset the costs that the initial rate increase would have funded, and over the course of the next couple of months, they will modify the rate study and come back to the commission next fiscal year for a future increase that may not go into effect until fiscal year 2027-2028.
