Taking over a local water system means big bucks for investor-owned utilities, which typically rake in profits of about 10 % on the system’s value. Under CS/HB 125, corporations would be able to use outside consultants to inflate the value of the water system they are acquiring and then allow the companies to recover that amount along with investor returns by raising customer water rates. Traditionally, when a private company buys a municipal water system, state regulators seek to limit rate increases by allowing the corporation to recover only the system’s book value - the actual value of the assets on its balance sheets. It’s a bad deal for Floridians, promising a wave of water system privatization and substantial rate hikes. Florida could be next.ĬS/HB 125 is advancing in the state legislature right now. Fourteen states have passed a version of dubiously named “fair market value” legislation to grease the wheels of private water system takeovers. But the corporate water lobby is trying to change that through privatization friendly laws. Most Americans - and more than 90% of Floridians - get their water from a public provider. At a time of rising prices for everything from medical care and energy to housing, the last thing Floridians need is to be priced out of essential water service. A bill advancing in the legislature seeks to encourage the corporate takeover of Florida’s public water utilities, which will cost residents and businesses dearly. The water you drink could be worth millions - to a private corporation.
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