No, it is not illegal to charge for water in Florida. Water is a regulated commodity, and utilities, cities, and counties are all permitted to bill customers for it. What the law does require is that every water charge be just, reasonable, and not unfairly discriminatory, and that the entity doing the charging follow the rate-setting rules that apply to it.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 367.081 – Rates; Procedure Whether a specific charge is lawful depends on who owns the system serving you and whether they followed the correct procedure to set the price.
Who Can Legally Charge You for Water
Two kinds of providers can lawfully bill you for water service in Florida, and they answer to different regulators.
Investor-owned water and wastewater utilities fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Florida Public Service Commission. Chapter 367 of the Florida Statutes gives the PSC control over these companies’ authority to operate, the quality of their service, and the rates they charge. The legislature declared this regulation an exercise of the state’s police power to protect public health, safety, and welfare.2The Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 367 – Water and Wastewater Systems If a private company delivers your water, the PSC is the body that decides what it can charge.
Municipalities and counties that operate their own water systems set rates outside PSC jurisdiction. These local governments have wide discretion in designing rate structures, and many use tiered pricing where the per-gallon charge rises at higher usage levels. Chapter 373 explicitly protects that local flexibility, requiring water management districts to give public water supply utilities “wide latitude” in choosing a rate structure and barring the districts from fixing or revising the rates themselves.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 373 – Water Resources
So the short version: a private utility charging you for water is legal if the PSC has approved its rates. A city or county charging you for water is legal if the local governing body has adopted the rates through its normal process.
What Makes a Water Charge Lawful
For investor-owned utilities, the rate-setting process is detailed and adversarial. A utility that wants to raise rates must file a written application with the PSC and mail a copy to the chief executive of every county government within the service area. Those county governments can petition to intervene, giving local officials a voice in the proceeding.4Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 367.091 – Rates, Tariffs; New Class of Service
When the PSC evaluates a proposal, it looks at the full cost of providing service: debt interest, working capital, maintenance, depreciation, taxes, and operating expenses for property the utility actually uses to serve customers. The commission also allows a fair return on the utility’s investment, which is how these companies attract capital for infrastructure. What the PSC will not let a utility do is pad its rate base with contributions-in-aid-of-construction, meaning assets that customers or developers donated rather than the utility purchasing.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 367.081 – Rates; Procedure
A utility may only charge rates the PSC has approved for each class of service, and any change requires commission approval. If the PSC objects to a proposed rate, it has 60 days to withhold consent and must issue a final decision within eight months. During that window the utility may put new rates into effect under a bond or escrow arrangement, but it must keep detailed records of every dollar collected under the provisional rates in case refunds are ordered.4Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 367.091 – Rates, Tariffs; New Class of Service
A private utility that bills you at a rate the PSC never approved is charging you unlawfully. That is different from charging you a rate you think is too high; if the commission has approved it, the price is legal even if you dislike it.
Impact Fees and Connection Charges
Beyond monthly service, new development in Florida often triggers one-time impact fees, sometimes called connection fees or system development charges. The principle is that new growth should pay for the infrastructure capacity it demands, and existing residents should not subsidize expansion they did not cause.
Florida’s Growth Management Act requires local governments to maintain adequate public facility service levels and bars approval of development that would reduce those levels, which is the legal foundation for these fees. To survive a legal challenge, an impact fee must identify its purpose, specify the facilities it will fund, and demonstrate a reasonable connection between the fee amount and the burden the new development places on the system. The fees cannot be used for operational expenses or to fix pre-existing infrastructure shortfalls. For water utilities under PSC jurisdiction, any service availability charge must follow the procedures in Section 367.101 and receive commission approval.
When a Charge Is Not Lawful
The clearest example of an unlawful charge is overbilling. Under Rule 25-30.350, a utility that overbills a customer must refund the overcharge based on available records. If the utility cannot pinpoint when the overbilling started, it must estimate the amount using the customer’s past consumption history. You choose how the refund arrives: a one-time payment if the amount exceeds $20, or a credit applied to future bills.5Cornell Law Institute. Florida Admin Code 25-30.350 – Underbillings and Overbillings
Charges that discriminate unfairly among similar customers, or rates a private utility imposes without PSC approval, also fall outside what the law allows. The statutory standard is that all rates must be just, reasonable, and not unfairly discriminatory.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 367.081 – Rates; Procedure
How to Dispute a Water Charge
Start with the utility. If the company will not resolve the issue directly, you can file a complaint with the PSC through its online Consumer Complaint Form. You will need your account information and service address, and you should select “Water & Wastewater” as the industry and “Improper Billing” as the complaint type. Florida’s broad public records law means your submission may become publicly accessible, so be thoughtful about what you include.6Florida Public Service Commission. Consumer Complaint Form
For charges that appear on a credit card statement rather than a direct utility bill, the federal Fair Credit Billing Act separately requires creditors to acknowledge billing complaints in writing and investigate errors before taking any action that could hurt your credit standing.7Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Billing Act
What Happens If You Do Not Pay
The right to charge for water comes with strong collection powers, and the consequences of ignoring a lawful bill are steep. Under Section 159.17, any municipality that has issued revenue bonds for its water system holds an automatic lien on the property it serves for all unpaid service charges. That lien is senior to nearly every other claim against the property except state, county, and municipal taxes. Once a charge is delinquent for more than 30 days, the municipality can foreclose on the lien using the same process used for mortgage foreclosures.8The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 159.17 – Lien of Service Charges
Municipalities can also shut off water service entirely for nonpayment and withhold reconnection until all overdue charges, interest, and penalties are paid. The statute even allows municipalities to enter into agreements with private water suppliers to cut off water to properties with unpaid sewer charges, creating additional leverage for combined utility debts.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 159.18 – Collection of Charges
A missed bill becomes a lien, a lien accrues penalties, and in the worst case the municipality forecloses. If you are struggling with water bills, contact your utility about payment arrangements before the account goes delinquent. The federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, which previously helped qualifying households, is no longer funded as of 2026.10Administration for Children and Families. Low Income Household Water Assistance Program Disputing a charge you believe is wrong is a right the law protects. Simply refusing to pay a lawful charge is not.