Boynton Beach weighs 17.25% rate hike to fund $325m PFAS-driven treatment upgrades

Boynton Beach weighs 17.25% rate hike to fund $325m PFAS-driven treatment upgradesCity commissioners have demanded a robust public education campaign before approving a steep utility rate increase, emphasizing the need to explain the costly federal regulatory mandates driving the city's capital spending.

The city faces an estimated $325 million cost to upgrade its East and West Water Treatment Plants to comply with new federal PFAS regulations.

Rate consultant Ryan Smith proposed a 17.25% rate adjustment for FY 2026-2027 to prepare for upcoming revenue bond issuances.

Commissioners mandated an aggressive public engagement strategy before the final rate vote in September, arguing ratepayers must understand the regulatory drivers.

The utility's newly approved five-year Capital Improvement Plan totals $428.7 million, with nearly $30 million recently secured in grant funding to offset some costs.

The City of Boynton Beach, Florida, is bracing for a massive capital outlay to meet new federal water quality regulations, prompting a proposed 17.25% utility rate increase for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The primary driver of the proposed rate shock is an estimated $325 million overhaul of the city’s East and West Water Treatment Plants to address emerging contaminants, specifically PFAS. Utilities Director Poonam Kalkat told the City Commission during a June 30 budget workshop that the city is currently evaluating over 10 different treatment alternatives to keep costs down, including the possibility of consolidating treatment to a single facility. Rate consultant Ryan Smith of Ryper Water Analytics presented the financial forecast, emphasizing that the 17.25% increase is critical to improving financial metrics and building reserves ahead of a major revenue bond issuance planned for late 2027 or early 2028. The financial strategy includes increasing the utility's annual renewal, replacement, and improvement fund deposit to $18 million to strengthen its cash position for rating agencies. Despite the strict regulatory mandates, city commissioners hesitated to endorse the steep rate hike without direct community outreach. Vice Mayor Thomas Turkin and Commissioner Aimee Kelley insisted that utility staff launch an aggressive, grassroots public education campaign before the final budget vote in September. The commission argued that ratepayers must understand the federal mandates and aging infrastructure needs driving the costs before seeing a spike on their bills. The treatment plant upgrades dominate the utility's newly approved $428.7 million five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Beyond the plant overhauls, the CIP includes a $10 million master lift station rehabilitation, $10 million for Chapel Hill stormwater improvements, and an $18.6 million water, sewer, and stormwater improvement project in the San Castle neighborhood. Kalkat highlighted that the utility has aggressively pursued outside funding, securing nearly $30 million in grants in recent years to help soften the blow to ratepayers. However, she warned the commission that federal and state grant pools are beginning to dry up, leaving the enterprise fund to shoulder the burden of future regulatory compliance.