Hey folks, it’s Rod here, and I just gotta let this off my chest because this whole water bill situation in St. Petersburg has me scratching my head. Like I’ve said before, what in the world are we paying for? Because let’s be real: most of us aren’t drinking the water that comes out of our taps. We don’t trust it. We’re buying cases of bottled water from Wal-Mart, Cash & Carry, Winn-Dixie, or Publix just to have something safe to drink. So if we’re not even drinking it, then why are we getting hit with these crazy charges?
The truth is, all we use that city water for is the basics—washing our cars, taking our baths, and flushing the toilet here and there. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. We ain’t cooking with it, we ain’t filling up glasses with it at dinner, we sure ain’t bragging about how good it tastes. It’s just the bare minimum. So why are we paying extra for something that doesn’t even fully serve our needs?
And let’s not forget about all the other charges that sneak their way onto the bill. We’re paying for recycling bins—that blue container that half the time just sits out by the curb collecting dust. Most people hardly ever use it. But whether we roll it out once in a while or not at all, we still get charged. Doesn’t matter if that bin is full or empty, we’re paying for it.
Same goes for waste pickup. We’ve got to pay for trash services no matter what. If you take out two bags a week or none at all, you’re still paying that monthly fee. Heck, you could go on vacation for a week or two, nobody puts a single bag of trash out, and guess what? You’re still getting billed because it’s in the contract tied to your water account. So we’re paying for trash collection, recycling collection, and now water that’s overpriced and under-used. I don’t know about y’all, but to me it feels like we’re getting nickel-and-dimed from every direction.
Now I get it, the city’s gotta make money to keep services running. But what I don’t get is why the charges keep climbing higher and higher when we aren’t even using half the services in the way they claim. It’s like they’re treating us all the same, whether you’re a family of five who runs the dishwasher three times a day, or a single person who only uses the water for a shower at night. Shouldn’t there be some kind of fair system in place that reflects how much people actually use? Instead, it feels like one big blanket charge designed to squeeze as much money as they can out of everyone.
And don’t even get me started on the water quality itself. If the city was providing clean, great-tasting water that folks could confidently drink straight from the tap, maybe—just maybe—I could understand paying a little extra. But when you have to go buy bottled water on top of paying a monthly bill, you’re basically double-paying for something you should already have access to. That’s not just unfair, it’s ridiculous.
The bottom line is this: people in St. Pete are tired. We’re tired of watching our bills climb up while our trust in the system goes down. We’re tired of paying for services that sit unused. We’re tired of shelling out extra cash for water we don’t even drink. At some point, enough is enough. The city owes its people more transparency about where this money is really going. Because as of now, it feels like we’re just tossing money into a bottomless pit.
So here’s my question to everyone reading: how do we push back? Do we show up at council meetings? Do we flood the city with complaints until they finally take us seriously? Because sitting here quietly and just paying the bill ain’t cutting it anymore. If we’re going to be charged for water and all these other services, the least the city can do is make sure it’s fair, reasonable, and reflective of what we’re actually using.
That’s my two cents—or should I say, two dollars, since everything keeps going up. What do y’all think? Are you fed up too, or is it just me?
—Rod
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Rod, you hit the nail on the head, man. I’ve been saying the same thing for years. The water in St. Pete is not drinkable, and yet we’re stuck paying as if it’s some premium product. Like you, my family buys bottled water every week, and that’s money on top of what the city already takes from us. It doesn’t make sense.
What gets me the most is what you said about being billed even when you don’t use the service. I went on vacation last summer for nearly three weeks. My bins sat empty the whole time, nobody flushed a toilet, no showers, nothing. But when I got back, the bill was the same as if I’d been home using everything daily. That’s just wrong. If they can measure usage for electricity and gas, they could figure out a fairer system for water and trash too. They just don’t want to because it’s easier to blanket-charge everybody.
I do think you’re right that we need to push back. I’ve been to a couple of city council meetings, and let me tell you, most of the folks up there act like they don’t even live in the same neighborhoods we do. They don’t feel these increases the way we do. The only way they’ll listen is if enough of us show up and speak out. They hate bad press, so if residents come together, it forces them to pay attention.
Thanks for saying what a lot of us are already thinking. You’re not alone in being fed up.
—MikeT