Did a gremlin get into the water and sewer system at the Beaches recently?
Out of the blue, someone posted on Facebook a long rant about the amount of his water bill, which he claimed averages around $200 a month. He says he is in a two-person household with no sprinkler system.
He declared that he did not have any leaks in his system.
For comparison, the average JEA bill for residential water and sewer was $66 in 2025, ranging from $60 to $74 each month.
Neptune Beach has its own water and sewer system.
Neptune City Manager Rick Pike says the city has not had a rate increase in years and has a process for checking out complaints about high usage.
JEA has two web pages that talk about rates and spikes:
https://www.jea.com/my_account/understand_my_bill/high_bills/water_spikes
https://www.jea.com/My_Account/Rates
But the Facebook thread went on and on with someone else claiming they “pay about $330-350 every month.”
Another said his bill of $134 a month was too high.
One man said he had emailed Neptune Beach City Hall declaring he would no longer pay his bill until there was an audit of the water and sewer operation.
A couple of residents of Atlantic and Jacksonville beaches also complained
One contributor to the thread had the perfect solution: “Water should be free in Florida!”
Few complained about JEA bills, and for good reasons. Of six large cities in Florida, Jacksonville has the lowest average water/sewer bill, and in the past 10 years it has increased less than any of them.
| Year | Miami-Dade | Broward | Palm Beach | Hillsborough | Orange | Duval (JEA) |
| 2016 | 63 | 70 | 72 | 58 | 55 | 52 |
| 2018 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 61 | 58 | 54 |
| 2020 | 72 | 78 | 82 | 65 | 62 | 57 |
| 2022 | 78 | 83 | 88 | 70 | 66 | 60 |
| 2024 | 84 | 89 | 95 | 75 | 71 | 64 |
| Increase | 33% | 27% | 32% | 29% | 29% | 23% |
Water rates are designed to penalize excessive usage by charging more per additional cubic foot. The sewer charge usually is a multiple of water use and homes now are charged for stormwater, based on estimated runoff from the property. Leaks in toilets and sprinkler systems also are common.
But there may be one problem emerging in Jacksonville related to the cost of sewer service. One building complained to Eye on Jacksonville that he was quoted $100,000 as a hookup fee for a restaurant.
That seems substantial and it may reflect a shift in policy the city made rashly during the Curry administration.
Currently, JEA is expanding its water and sewer system to replace septic tanks throughout the city. But they are not charging people to connect to the sewerage system. Since it is “free” to the beneficiaries, someone has to pay. That would be everyone else who connects.
