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Century’s New Utility Contract With Prison System In Effect; $180K Annual Increase Expected
December 24, 2021
Century is expected to see an annual revenue increase of over $180,000 from a new utility agreement for the Florida Department of Corrections’ Century Correctional Institution. The contract, approved about a month ago, has now been fully executed by the town and state.
The Florida Department of Corrections is Century’s largest utility customer, and the town was providing water, sewer and natural gas to the prison under a 2008 agreement. It’s estimated the town underbilled over $330,000 due to a faulty gas meter and the town’s failure to adjust the contract annually to match the Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, most of the underbilling was beyond a contractual two-year limitation. The town agreed to forgive the full amount with the new agreement.
Billings under the new five year contract, which has a three year renewal option, are anticipated to total nearly $615,181 plus the actual cost of gas each year — $181,121 more than the 2008 contract.
The new rates were applied retroactively to March 2021, and the Department of Corrections has been billed for the difference to date.
Going forward, annual CPI increases will be added each March.
FDOC has also agreed to pay $1,120 per month to cover expenses if the town installs a “bar screen” – machinery that will keep large items like sheets out of the town’s pumps and wastewater treatment plant.
Pictured: An elevated water storage tank belonging to the Town of Century stands just outside the Century Correctional Institution. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
7 Responses to “Century’s New Utility Contract With Prison System In Effect; $180K Annual Increase Expected”
The prison needs a bar screen because inmates shove everything down the toilets and that stuff ruins the pumps in the lift station leading to sanitary sewer overflows or backups into the prison. Inmates will shove sheets and shirts down the toilet in order to clog the toilet and cause an overflow into their cell so they can be moved out or just to cause a general disturbance. This happens relatively often in all prisons, not just century. But it’s not just the sheets that the bar screen would keep out. Anything and everything gets flushed down the toilet in a prison and can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to the pumps.
REGARDING:
” the Town goes after the business with the deepest pockets.”
Biggest users anyway. If you underbilled 100 users ten dollars each on average, that’s 1,000 dollars. If you underbilled one user $300,000, that’s…
Fix the biggest problems first. Also, it’s hard to determine how much small users were underbilled since their usage is already so much closer to zero to start with. But they are replacing or repairing those other meters too.
David for heat pumps
(not that I have one)
Why sign a contract with the prison, won’t be long before century prison closes and moves staff to Santa rosa
More personal loans for the board members are on the horizon!!!
How many faulty gas meters are there in Century? First it was a laundromat, now the prison. What’s next?
Northescambia has repeatedly reported the under billed/no bill situation so the Town goes after the business with the deepest pockets. Wonder what the plan is for backcharging all those residents who never paid for utilities for months or years?
Anyone out there who can explain DOC paying the town for a device that prevents items like sheets from going thru the waste system? I don’t understand how that happens or how prevalent it is to warrant paying $1000+ per month?
With this money Century is now able to take loan applications.