Selectboard approves water, sewer budget with rate increase

The Springfield Selectboard has voted to approve the 2016-2017 water and sewer budget that will raise rates, but will also help the Public Works Department with utility costs.

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2016-06-15 / Front Page Selectboard approves water, sewer budget with rate increase By Tory Jones Bonenfant toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Selectboard has voted to approve the 2016-2017 water and sewer budget that will raise rates, but will also help the Public Works Department with utility costs. “We have been grappling for years with the amount of water we are actually billing for and budgeting,” said Town Manager Tom Yennerell. The selectboard voted in the new budget at a regular selectboard meeting on Monday, June 13. Average usage for a six-month billing period would cost town residents approximately $4.32, and $6.46 for wastewater treatment, both per 100 cubic feet. That compares to a rate of $4.01 and $5.85 for 2015-2016, respectively, according to information provided by the board. “For $4.32, you’re getting 740 gallons of water. For $6.46, you’re getting that same water treated,” said Public Works Department Director Jeff Strong, who attended the meeting. The estimated cost of combined water and sewer for one year, with average use, would be $539 for a regular six-month billing cycle, or $1,078 per year for 2016-2017, according to that fact sheet. The selectboard approved the budget 4-1, with selectboard member George McNaughton opposed. “This is the last year I vote on the water rate. I just won’t be able to support it this year,” McNaughton said, adding that he felt not enough measures were being taken by the town to collect from delinquent water and sewer bill accounts. Yennerell said that the town has begun to increase the amount of shut-offs due to delinquencies, and will also adopt additional policies to require that water users pay larger amounts to reactivate once they are shut off. He is also looking into filing liens or go forward with property sales. “It’s never been done here before,” he said. “We’re starting to realize we need to do it. It’s starting to impact our ability to pay the bills.” The selectboard provided a line item breakdown in the meeting packet, detailing the budget and expenditures proposed for 2016-2017 and dating back in comparison to 2012-2013. It included expenditures for water line and pump station upgrades, equipment, debt principal and depreciation, with a total capital decrease in the proposed budget of $189,500 from the 2015-2016 budget of $1,228,884 to the 2016-2017 proposed budget of $1,039,384. McNaughton said that he felt the water rate is considered a “second tax” by some residents of Springfield. “It’s my belief that if we didn’t have $259,000 in delinquency, the rate could be lower,” said selectboard member Peter McGillivray. Strong said that, compared to 20 years ago, people in Springfield are consuming less water, causing usage consumption to go down steadily for the past two decades. “In the 1980s, we were running out of water,” he said. The population has also decreased from about 12,000 to about 9,000 in that time, he said. The water rate is also affected by the modernization that comes with renovating older houses to be fitted with features such as eco-friendly toilets that now flush with one gallon rather than six gallons — that is good for the environment, but impactful on rates, he said. “We need more people using it, not people using more water,” Strong said. Strong also said that the pump stations were built to handle a much larger flow of wastewater than they are handling now, as the town had large businesses such as Ben & Jerry’s using water at the time of construction. The pump station is only using about 25 percent of the capacity it could be handling, which would be good news for businesses looking to come to the area with larger water and wastewater needs, Strong said. . The water rates in Springfield are comparable to neighboring towns including Bellows Falls and Claremont, Strong said. “We’re all in the same boat together,” he said.