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Date: 10/6/2023
NORTHAMPTON — After recent plans to shutter in December, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Northampton will now continue to operate “at least” through the first quarter of 2024, according to a Coca-Cola company spokesperson.
“We have adjusted our timing and now expect a portion of the facility will continue to operate at least through Q1 of 2024,” read a statement from the company spokesperson. “As always, we remain focused on supporting our employees and the Northampton community throughout the closure process and will continue to work closely with the city throughout this transition.”
In 2021, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Northampton industrial park announced that it would shutter its doors in the summer of 2023 after serving six decades in Northampton. The plant then delayed the closing until December 2023. Now, the center has decided to delay once again.
The eventual closing of the plant will be significant to the city of Northampton, since Coca-Cola takes up a large portion of the city’s water and sewer enterprise funds.
To accommodate the significant loss in revenue from the eventual closure of the plant, the city approved quarterly base rate increases for water and the implementation of base rates for sewer charges back in the spring. Both of these changes went into effect on July 1, when fiscal year 2024 began.
The change in rates meant that the water and sewer revenue increase will cost an additional $244 to $337 a year for the average household in FY24, depending on the size of their pipe.
The restructuring of these rates affects everyone in the city, from residents to businesses, to hospitals, schools and the Coca-Cola plant.
Despite the rate changes, the fees for water use did not change.
Readers can learn more about those FY24 rate changes by visiting Reminder Publishing’s website for previous coverage on the Council’s decision: https://tinyurl.com/4sfjwrr3.