By Elizabeth Hacala
At the June 23 Selectmen’s meeting, Finance Director Victor Garofalo presented the board with possible water/sewer rates for the next year. Garofalo said he had generated this preliminary rate set such that the percentage of increase would be the same across high and low water usage customers. The preliminary proposal was to increase the R1 water rate from $1.20 to $1.70/ hundred cubic feet (hcf) and the R2 rate from $5.70 to $6.40/hfc. The irrigation rate would remain unchanged at $8/hcf under this model.
Garofalo’s model showed that an average family using 85 hundred cubic feet [85hcf] of water over a year would see a 15.2 percent increase in the water portion of their bill, resulting in a total bill of $391 per year as opposed to a $339.50 bill under the current rates. The model showed a much smaller increase of 6 percent for the same family’s sewer bill, with a new bill of $636/year rather than $600/year under the current rate. The final impact would be an average rate increase of 9.3 percent.
The primary reason for the increase in water rates is the inclusion of water used to flush the system caused by recent water quality issues. Since flushing the system now appears to be a part of the water system maintenance rather than a one-time occurrence, Garofalo suggested it was more appropriate to cover that expenditure through the water rate rather than through a transfer from the reserve funds. The finance department is expecting to bring a request for the transfer of approximately $200,000 from the reserve fund to cover increased water purchase, due largely to this year’s flushing.
Department of Public Works Director Roy E. Sorenson said he was hopeful that the cost of flushing would decrease over time as other water system improvements come on line.
Selectman Chair Margot Fleischman asked if most of the new construction projects included an irrigation system. Mr. Sorenson said most new permits came in three at a time: water, irrigation water, and sewer.
Fleischman also asked Garofalo to explain why the proposal contained a 20 cent increase on the R1 rate. He indicated that the goal of this rate model was to keep the rate increase even across the board.
Selectman Michael Rosenberg expressed concern that the proposed rates heavily charged people for water they used for survival while holding steady the cost for irrigation saying, “…now we are putting a disproportionate increase on people who use water to survive rather than waste it”. Fleischman also expressed that although the irrigation rate of $8/hcf is higher than either the R1 or R2 water rates, people with separate irrigation meters are not charged for sewage on the R3 water and therefor are paying considerably less than they would if they were irrigating with water through their regular tap.
Rosenberg said he had no issue with the budget absorbing the cost of the water system flushing, adding, “It is the Town’s responsibility to have a system to deliver a product in a usable way. If the system is compromised then why should the user be assessed for the emergency correction?”
Selectman Mark Siegenthaler asked how much money for flushing was built into the current rates. Garofalo indicated that the current rates projected $120,000 for water system flushing next year.
Selectman William Moonan pointed out that the R1 rate has been increased by 10 percent since the irrigation rate was introduced in 2008. The irrigation rate has been held steady since introduction. If the irrigation rate were increased by a corresponding amount, that could reduce impact on basic water rates significantly.
Siegenthaler pointed out that although the sewer fund was down it was not near historic lows and the entire cost of flushing could be offset without jeopardizing the solvency of the fund.
The Selectmen requested that Garofalo bring back additional scenarios to the next meeting. They requested models reflecting a possible increase in the irrigation rate as well as one in which the cost of routine flushing might be included in water rates and emergency flushing funded elsewhere.
Garofalo and Sorenson will be presenting additional water and sewer rate models to the Selectmen at the June 30 meeting, during which the Board is scheduled to approve final water and sewer rates for the next year.
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