APOPKA, Fla. — Apopka council members sat and stared at each other and at the floor for more than 30 seconds Wednesday as they waited to see who among them would stick their neck out and vote for an unpopular water increase.
In the end, only one of them halfheartedly did, just to get the vote going.
After months of planning by staff, council members rejected a proposed 15.5% rate increase after property owners complained it was too high. It would have amounted to approximately $13 per month for the average household.
The increase would have funded more than 100 maintenance projects, as well as upgrades to the city’s ageing infrastructure.
At least some of the cost came from plans to drill deeper into the Florida aquifer to solidify the city’s water supply and protect the nearby springs.
However, it came on the heels of a 23.75% increase last year and a proposed 15.5% increase next year, along with two subsequent 3.5% increases.
“We’ve become storage city. We’ve become a builder’s paradise, but not a resident’s paradise,” Diane Colonna said.
Accountants told the city the funds were needed to keep up with inflation and that the amounts could not be spread evenly without cutting projects since the city couldn’t take on debt to begin projects that would get underway next year.
When commissioners balked and asked the increase to be lowered to 9%, staff said they’d have to go back to the drawing board, warning that commissioners would be kicking the can down the road as they sought $64 million in cuts to their proposed plans.
As the audience demanded increases to impact fees to offset the costs, accountants told them impact fees had recently been raised and by law, they could only fund improvements to the system, not replacements.
Others told the crowd to turn their anger onto the state legislature, which has spent several years undermining local governments’ home rule, especially over development.
“The building needs to stop,” Ian Kimbrell said. “The rates need to stop increasing until we can get a grasp on how we can spend our money responsibly and beneficially for the residents of Apopka.”
Staff will return before council with a new proposal, including cuts, before the end of the month.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
