ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Inexplicably high water bills in St. Petersburg have become a central issue in the city's mayoral race, with all six candidates contacted to weigh in ahead of the August election.
The issue gained renewed attention after a campaign post on Facebook from former Governor and mayoral candidate Charlie Crist, citing Tampa Bay 28 Investigative Report Kylie McGivern's investigation into the billing concerns and a specific last from last year.
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"Thousands of St. Pete residents have received water bills they cannot explain and cannot pay," Crist said in the post, adding, "The underlying problem remains."
The investigation that prompted Crist's post centered on Noreen McClure, whose 93-year-old mother was living in a nursing home when the city told her she owed more than $10,000 on a water bill for her vacant home. McClure paid a leak-detection company to inspect the property multiple times. The company told McClure — and the I-Team — it found no leaks.
McClure said she was surprised to see her family's case become a focal point in the race.
"I was very surprised. But also very pleased, because no one else has ever seemed to care over this whole situation," McClure told the I-Team.
McClure's mother died at the end of January.
"The really sad part is that, you know, Mom passed worrying about this $11,000 debt that she felt she was going to be saddling her children with," McClure said. "That's just a shame."
After confirming there was no lien on the property, McClure said her family sold the home. But questions remain about what led to the high bill.
"No, there's never been any follow through. At one point I asked for a meeting with the mayor, his chief of staff took the meeting and said he would get back to me, and the only thing that he forwarded me via email was the same paperwork, telling me that that water was definitely used and that we owe it, and there's absolutely nothing the city could do for me," McClure said.
A city spokesperson said the balance of more than $10,000 was "administratively 'written off'" after the city attempted to collect for a year. However, that amount "would still have to be paid prior to the same customer activating water service at any other location in the city."
"There are so many people that have been affected, and no one will take ownership of it. And their convoluted answers… just don't make any sense," McClure said.
Crist said he experienced his own unexplained high water bill — one that the city stood by.
"I didn't realize, you know, the magnitude of it. And your story really exposed that," Crist said.
"A plumber came out and checked. There was no leak just as you had in your story. And it's unconscionable to me that this is happening to people and that the city doesn't seem to care very much," Crist said.
Former Shore Acres Civic Association President Kevin Batdorf, who is also running for mayor, said transparency is the biggest issue at City Hall.
"If we knew what was wrong, maybe we could figure out a way to fix it. We just don't know," Batdorf said.
Batdorf said if elected, he would make that information public.
"We're gonna release everything that the city's holding back on. Whether it puts a black eye on the city or not we need to find out and fix it," Batdorf said.
Mayoral Candidate Jim Large, who served 18 years as St. Pete's fire chief, also pointed to a breakdown in communication.
"When someone calls City Hall, they need to get an answer. And so I'm not sure where the breakdown is, but that's one of the things that I would want to fix is we have to be — we're here, as a city, for the public. The public's not here for us. We have to get that right. It seems like there's been a little bit of an evolution away from customer service," Large said.
City Council member Brandi Gabbard, who has served on the St. Pete City Council for nearly a decade and is now running for mayor, said the issue has been a concern among her colleagues.
"It's important that we are looking at our infrastructure, our technologies, our evaluation of the utility and billing department," Gabbard said.
In October, the City Council approved a management study of the billing and collections department. That study has yet to begin. In July, the Budget, Finance, and Taxation Committee will review two shortlisted proposals.
The city is also reviewing proposals for what's called "Advanced Metering Infrastructure."
"It's going to give people a lot more surety that what they're actually using is what they're being billed for and we'll give them real-time information," Gabbard said.
Maria Scruggs, a jail administrator and former NAACP St. Pete branch president, said the billing problems have gone on for close to two years without resolution.
"I don't care how many city employees I know that work in utilities or that are in this neighborhood that — hey, have y'all resolved that issue yet? No, ma'am, we don't know, we don't, we don't know what's going on, and that drives me nuts," Scruggs told the I-Team. "My staff will tell you one of the answers that I cannot take is I don't know, particularly when that is your responsibility to know."
Scruggs said, if elected mayor, she would be "front and center" on complex issues.
"What they do expect is when there's a problem they want you to acknowledge it and they want you to fix it," Scruggs said.
Multiple requests for an interview about water billing issues were made to the city last year, but the city never agreed to meet with anyone. Mayor Ken Welch was again contacted for this story, multiple times over a week, through both the city and his campaign, as he campaigns to keep his seat.
The Mayor was not made available for an interview within that time.
A city spokesperson provided this statement from the Mayor via email:
"We understand affordability is a huge issue for our residents and we are committed to identifying and resolving high water bills as they occur. Following the 2024 storms, we saw an increase in high water bills due to damages from the hurricanes. As we kept getting reports of the issues, we immediately took action. We initiated an internal investigation, completed an Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot last year with the goal of improving post-storm leak detection, and installed 25,000 new water meters. Today, we are continuing the process of replacing old water meters throughout the City and are working to complete an internal audit of our Billing and Collections Department. The hurricanes had a huge impact on our community and we continue to use lessons learned from that experience to improve City service for residents."
McClure, whose mother's high bill came before the hurricanes, said residents deserve answers.
"I went to meetings down at the city, I was heard, but not really, because no one stepped up to assist me," McClure said. "I feel sorry for people because we're just not being seen and, you know, you can't just sweep this nonsense under the rug."
The city said the implementation of new billing software — the first upgrade in more than 25 years — is expected to be completed "within the next year."
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