JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bill that could cost the city tens of millions of dollars it receives from JEA each year is back for a second year in a row in the Florida Legislature, and local leaders are already preparing for a fight.
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The legislation appears to be on a fast track this year in the Florida House, and that’s a concern to both JEA and local elected officials.
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The legislation would restrict the amount of money local governments can receive from utility companies they own.
Last year, House sponsor State Representative Demi Bussata Cabrera (R-Coral Gables) argued the legislation aims to prevent customers who live outside of the municipality that owns their utility provider from being overcharged.
She also said the intent is to stop local governments from using the utility companies they own as personal piggybanks.
“We want to make sure today that governments aren’t balancing their political wants on the backs of the ratepayers,” said Bussata Cabrera during a committee hearing last March.
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But Laura Schepis, Chief External Affairs Officer at JEA, argued Jacksonville’s municipal-owned utility has some of the lowest rates in the state, despite contributing roughly $263 million to the city budget each year.
“It does appear to be a top-down, one-size-fits-all solution in search of a problem,” said Schepis.
Based on the current cap formula laid out in the bill, JEA and Jacksonville’s city auditor estimate the City of Jacksonville would lose out on more than $73 million a year if the legislation were to pass.
That’s about a four percent hit to a city budget that totals $1.75 billion.
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Councilmember and Finance Committee Chair Nick Howland argued that would be a significant hit.
“We have to balance a budget. We will always balance a budget and that might mean that certain needs would go unmet,” said Howland.
Howland noted JEA, the mayor and council are aligned in opposition to the bill and are hoping to at the very least get an exemption for the City of Jacksonville added into it, if not defeat the legislation outright.
“The bill may have merit in some parts of the state, the State of Florida, but not here,” said Howland.
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The bill is up for its first committee hearing in the House Friday afternoon.
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Last year it was never heard in the Senate, and at least as of Thursday afternoon, it still hadn’t been scheduled for a hearing in that chamber this year either.
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