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Gainesville may increase service fee instead of water rate
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After deadlocking earlier this month on whether to raise water rates 1 percent, Gainesville City Council will hold another vote to try and end the stalemate Tuesday night. Council is now considering approving a zero percent rate increase and offsetting the resulting $230,000 loss of revenue with an additional increase in the account service fee, which covers the cost of reading meters, sending bills and related customer service issues. But the fee increase would hit small-time water users harder, while no increase in the water rate would save large consumers, such as Fieldale Farms and other businesses, thousands of dollars.