Already committed to spending billions of dollars on replacing septic tanks that may or may not need replacement, Jacksonville is going to study the problem.
This is one of the biggest political scams in years.
First, it is based on a lie: that proponents of consolidation promised it would be done. They did not.
Secondly, No one has shown any serious damage done by leaky or faulty septic tanks, Few homeowners have been cited for having faulty septic tanks.
Thirdly, politicians have exacerbated the problem they now seek to resolve at our expense.
Politicians are devoted to ripping out septic tanks and replacing them – not at the homeowner’s expense but at the taxpayer’s expense. Connection to local sewer lines also will be done, gratis.
Thus, thousands of homeowners will have their property improved and made more valuable at the expense of taxpayers who already have paid for their own property to have sewer service.
However, not all of the lucky homeowners receiving this windfall may know that they are signing up for significantly higher water bills as they begin paying a monthly sewer service charge.
What is worse is that those thousands of septic tanks have been permitted by the authorities for installation. Why did they do that if they are hazardous to our health?
The bill (2024-325) authorizes $200,000 for the University of Florida Center for Coastal Solutions to do a study that would designate the most vulnerable areas of the city and assign priorities for septic tank removal.