Wildwood Moves Ahead with Wastewater Treatment Plant

The City of Wildwood is currently in the process of constructing a new wastewater treatment plant to address increasing capacity needs. The project consists of the construction of a new four-million-gallons-per-day (4 MGD) facility as well as renovation and upgrades to the existing treatment infrastructure. The project has an estimated cost of $150 million, the largest project in the City’s history. The project is critical to the continued economic development efforts within the City and Sumter County. Without the expansion of wastewater capacity, growth would have to be halted, which would not only impact future housing developments but also commercial and industrial growth, which provides essential services and employment opportunities for our area.

Wildwood is located within the Silver Spring and Rainbow Spring Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP), which is a framework for water quality restoration adopted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Being located within the BMAP, the new wastewater plant must be able to produce reclaimed water that is safe for the environment. The new facility will implement Advanced Wastewater Treatment (AWT) standards, which is a process to remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous that can be harmful to watersheds. Upon completion, the treatment plant will have a total capacity of 5.5 MGD and will produce reclaimed water that won’t be harmful to waterways.

The City hired CPH Consulting, LLC, to design and permit the new facility. While the current project involves the construction of a new 4 MGD plant, the engineer’s design provides for the eventual construction of an additional 4 MGD when needed. The City recently signed a contract with Garney Construction to build the facility. Garney Construction has extensive wastewater infrastructure construction experience and has completed several projects in central Florida. Construction activities on the new infrastructure are scheduled to begin in early 2025 and are expected to take 24 months for completion.

The project will require the issuance of bonds to finance the construction. The City has conducted a Revenue Sufficiency Analysis (RSA) to assist in determining the appropriate rates that will need to be charged to support the bond payments. The RSA showed that the City will need to increase its wastewater user rate by 20% for three consecutive years. In FY24, the City implemented the first 20% increase, and on September 23^rd, 2024, the Commission will consider adopting the second 20% increase. The City has received one grant of $9.25 million for the plant construction. Staff continues to seek other grant opportunities to defray the costs of the construction. The City’s contractor is also reviewing the construction plans as they are being developed to identify changes that would result in cost savings. City staff are actively managing both activities to minimize future rate increases.

The City has also reviewed all its revenue sources to identify other possible funding sources for the project. Currently, the City’s General Fund has available resources to be transferred to the project. The General Fund receives revenues from many sources, with the main source being property tax revenue. However, other General Fund revenues include franchise fees and utility taxes for services provided by utility companies. To support the economic development of the City and the surrounding community, the City has decided to utilize General Fund resources for the project. Despite utilizing General Fund revenues for this project, there will be no increase in property taxes as a result of the transfer. The proposed FY25 millage rate (the rate at which a property is taxed) is the same as the FY24 millage rate.

Wildwood has become one of the fastest-growing communities in the country. Growth at such a pace can strain infrastructure resources if not addressed early enough. Wildwood has continually worked to ensure that its infrastructure system meets the demands of growth. We are excited to see the completion of this project and welcome continued development within our community.

Dave Fountaine
VHA Executive VP