by Chuck Ross
At GRU Authority’s May 2026 meeting, members considered renewing the long-standing agreement for GRU to bill City Stormwater and Solid Waste fees monthly. GRU would have received about $1 million, up from $820,000. Jack Jacobs and David Haslam opposed the agreement, creating a 2-2 impasse with Eric Lawson and Chip Skinner in favor, so the contract failed.
CEO Ed Bielarski recommended renewal, and Interim COO Brian Singleton said the City accepted higher GRU costs to avoid annual tax-bill collection and a possible $2 million to $2.5 million revenue loss.
Despite Bielarski’s recommendation, support from Skinner and Lawson, and public comments favoring the agreement, Jacobs and Haslam refused to compromise. Their opposition appears driven by hostility toward the City Commission, which Jacobs has shown repeatedly and Haslam has also expressed.
Jacobs called ending the billing arrangement a “win-win” for taxpayers and ratepayers, but it is a lose-lose. GRU lost $1 million, the City may lose up to $2.5 million and face transition costs, and taxpayers must now pay annual stormwater and waste fees on their property tax bills instead of monthly through GRU. Calling a potential $3.5 million loss a win-win defies logic.
Bottom line: GRU ratepayers and City taxpayers save nothing. Instead, Jacobs and Haslam’s decision will likely raise fees from both GRU and the city.
That is why property tax bills rose sharply this year: Stormwater and waste fees now appear as non-ad valorem charges on the bill.
Jacobs and Haslam should be removed from the GRUA. Only the governor can do so, but his appointments suggest GRU and the GRUA are not a priority.
In the upcoming election, we must choose representatives who will restore local governmental control, take back GRU, and take back Florida.
Chuck Ross is a retired CPA and a Sierra Club Suwannee-St. Johns Group Executive Committee member.