WAKULLA COUNTY, FL — Sopchoppy water customers are now receiving their sewer bills from Wakulla County instead of the City of Sopchoppy — a change that has left some residents confused about who to pay and when.
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The sewer system has always been owned and operated by the county. Until June 2026, the City of Sopchoppy handled the billing on the county's behalf. Now, customers will pay their water bills through the city and their sewer bills directly through the county.
The county said the change will improve efficiency and allow it to control costs and maintain lower sewer rates.
"The County determined that managing sewer billing directly would provide a single point of contact for customers, improve oversight, and help avoid increases in rates related to administrative costs," the Assistant County Administrator Somer Pell said in a statement.
Resident Matthew Hepner said the split billing has created confusion for many neighbors.
"Most people are used to paying one provider for their sewer and water, and now we're having to pay separate providers for sewer and a separate provider for the water, which has caused more folks to have figured out how to handle that," Hepner said.
Hepner said his biggest concern was a lack of direct communication about the change.
"So, hearing online that the water payment and sewer payments are going to be split from Sopchoppy water to the county doing just the sewer and Sopchoppy doing the water, we have not heard anything from some people at the county on how we're supposed to pay the sewer bill, when we're supposed to pay the sewer bill. Everything we're finding is through Facebook, through word of mouth on Facebook," Hepner said.
The county announced the billing change on April 28 through Facebook and again on May 12. The City of Sopchoppy said a notice was also included in April bills — but because the city uses a live billing system, previous bills are updated with the newest information. Customers who did not save a physical copy of their April bill will no longer be able to see that notification.
Hepner said that creates a problem for customers on automatic billing or those whose bill amounts don't change much month to month.
"If it's within a few dollars, you're not going to normally open the bill and look at it. You're just going to go ahead and pay it," Hepner said.
Hepner said both the city and the county should have mailed information directly to customers before the transition took effect.
Sopchoppy Mayor Leonard Tartt said the county's decision to take over billing came down to cost.
"The reason they took it over is because they were paying us a certain fee every month, and they decided they didn't want to pay the fee that we were charging them. And so they said they would take it over," Tartt said.
The new sewer bills start at $42.05 for the first 2,000 gallons. Customers will then be charged an additional $6.31 for every 1,000 gallons used beyond that. The rate is roughly the same as what customers were previously billed through Sopchoppy.
The flat rate will remain in place through January 2027. After that, billing will shift to reflect actual water usage.
"After that, customers will be billed based on actual water usage, giving them greater control over their sewer costs while ensuring billing remains consistent with the County ordinance," Pell said.
Sewer bills are due by the 20th of each month. Customers with an email address on file should have already received their first bill electronically. Customers who receive printed bills should expect them in the mail soon.
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