MARK SCHUMANN
Critics of Vero Beach, including Council members Pilar Turner and Harry Howle, contend the City is on the verge of bankruptcy. Vice Mayor Randy Old, a retired banker, among others, sees the numbers differently. Old argues the City, and its enterprise funds, are on solid financial ground.
Just yesterday, Fitch Ratings of New York affirmed the ‘A+’ rating for Vero Electric’s $32.3 million revenue bond. Revenue bonds are secured by net revenues from Vero Electric.
Fitch’s report noted improvement in Vero Electric’s financial. “Financial performance has steadily improved after reaching a low point in fiscal 2011.” (The year 2011 was when Turner, along with former council members Tracy Carroll and Craig Fletcher were in the majority; and it was the year the Turner, Carroll and Fletcher first began serious negotiations to sell Vero Electric to Florida Power & Light. Over the next two years, the City’s electric customers bore the cost of some $2 million in legal fees.)
The report also addressed Vero Electric’s rate issues. “The utility’s rates remain slightly higher compared to the statewide average for municipally owned utility systems,” according to Fitch.
Fitch noted Vero Electric debt ratio “compares well” to other municipal utilities, and is likely to continue to improve.
The favorable credit rating report did, however, raise a concern about the proposed sale of Vero Electric’s Indian River Shores customer base. “Indian River Shores, despite high wealth levels, has continued its efforts to cease being served by Vero Beach, because of the utility high rates…Until fully resolved, Vero Beach’s sale of the wealthiest portion of its customer base remains a credit concern that will continue to be monitored,” the Fitch report reads.
Yesterday, by a 3-2 vote, the City Council rejected a $30 million offer from Florida Power & Light for Vero Electric Shores customers and related infrastructure. Turner and Howle supported accepting the offer, but Mayor Jay Kramer, Vice Mayor Randy Old and Councilman Richard Winger instead voted to counter at $47 million, the price a team of consultants hired by the City has calculated would be needed to protect the City, its taxpayers and remaining electric customers from higher rates.
FPL spokeswoman, Pamela Rauch, said FPL’s offer is “final” and will expire August 25.
Indian River Guardian 
The net revenues derived from Vero Electric are a good reason to keep everything as is.Loss of a small part of the system might cause a fiscal disaster and lower bond ratings. .Face it, FP&L’s expiration dates mean nothing. How can you believe what they say when their first offer to the partial sale was a paltry $13,000,000 . Somehow they were able to come up with a better offer of $30,000,000. They could not be believed then and they can not be trusted with what ever they say now. This latest affair is an attempt by FP&L to once again influence our elections . They could have had their offer expire after the Aug.30 primaries,but chose not to, in order to influence the outcome of this election. We get it. In November Pilar Turner will be running again for city council and will be heavily funded by FP&L once again. Could it be that is why she votes in favor of whatever FP&L wants. Not once has she gone against their wishes. She takes her “marching orders” from FP&L, not the people she has sworn to represent. Any problems we may have were caused by Tracy Carroll. Craig Fletcher and ,of course Pilar Turner.