JEA has taken appropriate measures to address its past failure to collect capacity fees, a report from Jacksonville’s Office of the Inspector General found.
That report, issued after a three-month investigation, found JEA’s past failure to collect the capacity fees resulted from causes that included historical data gaps and record transitions, technological and systemic failures, organizational silos and communication failures and lack of policy and resource prioritization, according to a JEA release.
“We appreciate the Office of Inspector General’s thorough review of this complicated issue,” CEO Vickie Cavey said in a statement. “We are working diligently to create a process that addresses an issue that dates back several decades.”
JEA’s failure to collect capacity fees — a one-time charge required before a water meter is installed and utility service begins — was discovered by the utility in 2022 when it found Mayo Clinic had failed to pay additional capacity fees as its campus expanded.
Capacity fees are based on water meter size or projected daily consumption. At a June 8 meeting of the City Council Special Investigatory Committee on JEA, JEA Chief Administrative Officer Jody Brooks testified under oath that JEA failed to collect an estimated $25.2 million over 29 years.
While looking into the Mayo Clinic issue, JEA found other accounts had not paid capacity fees from expansion. Cavey then created a group within JEA to focus on capacity fee collection, according to JEA. In May 2026, the team halted its attempts to recover unpaid additional capacity fees while awaiting legal counsel on the statute of limitations for JEA’s authority to pursue these fees.
The OIG’s investigation was one of several into JEA, and one of two investigations looking into the capacity fee issue. On June 26, incoming City Council President Nick Howland allowed the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA to dissolve, forming a new committee focused on the capacity fee issue.
That committee, the Financial Audit and Oversight Committee, will be active for 60 days beginning July 20 and will focus on JEA’s uncollected capacity fees. At the end of that period, the committee is assigned to deliver a report on its findings.
That committee will comprise incoming Council Vice President Joe Carlucci and Council members Chris Miller and Ron Salem.
The investigatory committee, which will officially expire July 1, focused on JEA’s uncollected capacity fees, in addition to allegations of a toxic and racist workplace within JEA. Those allegations first emerged from Council President Kevin Carrico, who formed the investigative committee.
Carrico made the allegations after nominating Paul Martinez, his boss at Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, to replace Arthur Adams on the JEA board. Action News Jax later revealed texts between Carrico and Adams showing Carrico described Martinez’s nomination as a “big favor” to a friend.
After Action News Jax reported on Carrico’s text messages, Martinez withdrew from consideration and Carrico nominated Randy Wyse, head of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, to the JEA board. Wyse’s nomination and the renomination of board member Joseph DiSalvo have been deferred indefinitely by Rules Committee Chair Chris Miller.
Carrico dismissed allegations of misconduct in his nomination of Martinez, saying in a statement that “political noise and unfair attacks sought to distract from [Martinez’s] lifetime of service.”
The intended recipient of Carrico’s “big favor” has not been identified, nor is it known what the favor was.