Springfield water rate to increase 69 percent in July

The Springfield Select Board approved new water and sewer rates Monday night, with the water portion showing a 69 percent increase. The sewer portion is going up 1.5 percent, according to Jeff Mobus, the town’s finance officer.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110615/NEWS02/706159887

Published June 15, 2011 in the Rutland Herald

Springfield water rate to increase 69 percent in July

By SUSAN SMALLHEER

SPRINGFIELD — Residents will be in for a hefty price increase on the town’s municipal systems starting in July.

The Springfield Select Board approved new water and sewer rates Monday night, with the water portion showing a 69 percent increase. The sewer portion is going up 1.5 percent, according to Jeff Mobus, the town’s finance officer.

The Select Board approved an operating budget for the department of $2,487,231.

The increase is due to the $10 million worth of improvements the town has recently completed on the system to improve water pressure, Town Manager Robert Forguites said. The improvements were mandated by the state and the town was expected to complete the improvements by last year.

Monday’s increase won’t be the last of the increases, according to Mobus, who said the 69 percent increase in the water bill only represents about half of the $10 million in spending on the system.

He said the average residential combined water and sewer bill was between $250 and $300 every six months, depending on water usage, and with the increase, the bills should jump to between $350 to $400 every six months.

The current water rate is $1.81 per 100 cubic feet of water and the new rate is $3.05, which represents both usage and debt service.

The sewage rate is $5.58 per cubic 100 feet of water and will go up to $5.66.

Mobus said the town has 2,300 water and sewer accounts. Not everyone in Springfield is on the water system and the sewer system, Mobus said, noting there are some parts of town that have water and not sewer and visa versa. There are a total of 3,700 properties in town.

The town will send people updated bills through June so people won’t be paying the higher rate on water they’ve already used, the board agreed Monday.

Jeff Strong, the town’s water and sewer superintendent, told the board the town had been out of compliance for many years with a low-pressure problem in higher elevations in town.

State regulations require 30 psi under all flow conditions, included a fire or water-main break, and in the old system, a siphon effect would occur, which can contaminate the whole system, Strong said.

The town had passed the $10.5 million bond issue for the water improvements in 2009, and most of the construction on the various projects took place in 2009 and 2010.

Mobus said Tuesday the town was hoping for additional state and federal grants to help pick up the cost of the remaining $5 million, otherwise, the costs of that bond issue will come onto the water and sewer users.

The new, higher bills will start July 1, and the town has adopted a new form with two coupons, allowing people to split the bill into two payments without any late payment penalties.