Egregious situation must be rectified

County taxpayers/water customers are continuously forced to fund the poorly run Charlotte County Utilities, originally purchased in 1991 by inept politicians who substantially overpaid for an unknown asset as a result of a lost court case.

After taxpayers paid out eight-figure net damages from three lawsuits against CCU, commissioners retained a consulting firm for $250,000 to assess CCU’s existing managerial systems/operational efficiency. Many areas were identified, the remedies of which will cost taxpayers another $500,000 to implement. This situation has been, is, and will continue to be, a very bad investment.

Commissioners now mandate sewer construction systematically happen in residential areas where septic systems are currently operational. In a short period of time, cost to affected homeowners/ all county taxpayers has proven to be astronomically higher than CCU originally projected. County citizens directly affected are in near rebellion, as should be all taxpayers.

No empirical scientific evidence has been made public to justify this massive capital spending plan, so why is it being done? Is it to secretly again financially bail out CCU, which historically assesses some of the highest water rates in Florida, but still financially struggles needing higher and higher water rates to pay their bills?

This egregious situation must be rectified by selling CCU to a well-financed, private sector utility having a strong operational track record. Our five commissioners in this case must accede to the demands of taxpayers/ water customers, who are already overtaxed/overcharged.

Susan Hutt

Port Charlotte