Sarasota County Public Utilities

Provider briefing

How this utility’s billing works

Sarasota County Public Utilities operates as a public water authority serving Unincorporated Sarasota County. Customers should use the provider’s current account-specific bill and official customer-service instructions as the final authority for deadlines, balances, and service requests.

The published water-rate framework is described as FY2026 monthly fixed-account plus readiness-to-serve charges and increasing block consumption tiers. The current resolution lists a $3.20 monthly account charge, $19.58 monthly water readiness-to-serve charge, and water consumption at $3.36 per 1,000 gallons for 0–4,000 gallons, $4.23 for 4,001–8,000, $7.33 for 8,001–12,000, $12.13 for 12,001–18,000, and $16.94 above 18,000 gallons. Wastewater is separately structured with a $1.00 monthly quality fee, $23.60 individually metered readiness-to-serve charge, and $11.96 per 1,000 gallons.. Bills are generated monthly continuous billing. bills are mailed monthly by geographic area, approximately the same day each month, although dates vary for weekends and holidays; customers cannot choose the billing date., and a typical residential cost reference is Using the published FY2026 rates and a simple 5,000-gallon example, water is approximately $40.45 before taxes or other charges: $3.20 account charge + $19.58 readiness-to-serve + four thousand gallons at $3.36 plus one thousand at $4.23. Wastewater is approximately $84.40: $1.00 quality fee + $23.60 readiness-to-serve + five thousand gallons at $11.96. The combined illustrative total is approximately $124.85 before taxes, reuse, assessments, or property-specific charges.. These descriptions are useful planning benchmarks; actual charges can change with meter size, usage, sewer averaging, local taxes, drought stages, or account-specific fees.

Wastewater and sewer calculation

For individually metered wastewater customers, the current rate resolution uses a $23.60 monthly readiness-to-serve charge, a $1.00-per-EDU monthly wastewater quality fee, and $11.96 per 1,000 gallons of wastewater consumption. The public FY2026 schedule does not state a universal winter-average formula on the customer page; therefore the record does not invent one. A concealed leak, abnormal event, or initial pool fill that did not enter the sewer may qualify for a wastewater adjustment under the County's billing-adjustment policy.

Meter and infrastructure notes

Sarasota County is replacing more than 100,000 Advanced Meter Reading (AMR) meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The February 2026 State of the Utility report says the program began in 2023, was approximately 40% complete, uses County staff and a third-party contractor, provides real-time cellular readings, and is expected to finish by FY2029. During the transition, the County still performs scheduled meter reads and may estimate a bill when a vehicle, heavy rain, or landscaping prevents access; no single universal read day or hourly interval is published.