9% hike in water, sewer rate OK’d: Selectmen vote down three-year plan, leave future moves to mayor

By RICK COLLINS
The Patriot Ledger

Braintree officials say they can properly run the water and sewer department next year, as well as pay down a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, with a 9 percent rate increase.

By a 4-1 vote, selectmen chose to scrap the three-year financial plan recommended by a consultant that would have jacked rates up by 30 percent in the coming year. Instead, the board chose to take a one-year look at the department’s budget, approve the 9 percent increase and leave decisions on future increases up to the incoming mayor and town council.

The town meeting-approved budget for the water and sewer department in the fiscal year starting July 1 is slightly more than $11 million. The department has also racked up a nearly $4 million deficit over the past three years that the state says it must pay down.

Town officials blame the shortfalls largely on unexpected drops in water use by residents resulting from conservation measures, as well as a pair of relatively wet springs and summers that cut the need to water lawns and gardens.

The rate increase is expected to cover the cost of providing water and disposing of sewage while eliminating the deficit, public works Director Thomas Whalen said.

Douglas Gardner, president of Pioneer Consulting Group, which recommended the new rates, said the average quarterly water bill, based on households that use 3,000 cubic feet of water, will increase from $230 to $248.

As part of the new rates, the board has switched the early payment discount from 5 percent of the total bill to a $5 flat rate. The discount program cost the town about $350,000 this year, largely from high-volume water users that were able to save several hundred dollars per quarter.

The new flat rate, which will cost the town about $248,000, will benefit mainly homeowners and other low-volume users who currently only save a couple of dollars.

By changing the discount plan, the department will be able to save more than $100,000 next year.

Water and sewer officials, at the request of Selectman Charles Ryan, also went through and identified $260,000 in surplus cash from projects that came in under budget. That money also was used to cut the size of the increase.

Whalen said he may also ask special town meeting this fall to free more cash by removing earmarks for water and sewer projects that won’t start for a couple of years because of permitting problems.

Gardner, the town’s consultant, had initially recommended a three-year plan to deal with the deficit and pay for operating costs. It would have required a 30 percent increase this year, but no increase in the ensuing two years.

Whalen said he isn’t sure whether another increase will be needed next year.

Selectman Joseph Powers said he is cautiously optimistic the rates will put the department back on track ‘‘but I’ll believe it when I see it.’’

He added that there ‘‘will have to be a change in some of the faces involved’’ if the rate hikes don’t fix the department’s financial problems.

Darrin McAuliffe was the lone selectman to vote against the rate hike, arguing it was too tough a hit on the average ratepayer. He didn’t speak during last night’s discussion on the fees but said afterward he would have preferred a ‘‘managerial solution.’’

Rick Collins may be reached at rcollins@ledger.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, June 19, 2007