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Date: 11/3/2021
HATFIELD – After discussion, the Select Board voted to increase the town’s water and sewer rates each by 5 percent, dispelling a rumor that the increase would be 25 percent. Select Board Chair Diana Szynal also wanted to further reassure residents that the increases are necessary.
“Sewer rates and water rates weren’t raised for a long time and now we’re trying to catch up, and we’re trying to do that as fairly and as incrementally as we can,” Szynal said.
A consultant hired to assist with the rate adjustments, David Prickett of DPC Consulting, saw it as a minor increase.
“I tell all my clients 5 percent annually is like no increase,” Prickett said.
The town hosted an information session for residents at the end of September. A handout was also available at last week’s board meeting. According to that information, the rate bumps will add about $2.40 per month to sewer bills and $1.85 to residents’ average monthly water bill. According to Select Board member Brian F. Moriarty, this second increase – a five percent increase was also instituted last year – is necessary to pay for updates that have been delayed too long.
“The Hatfield wastewater treatment plant is nearly 40 years old, and the typical life expectancy is 20 years,” Moriarty said. “Portions of the collection system are nearly 100 years old. This is what began this process. Last year was the year we said we had to really take a look at this, we need to get our ducks in a row, we need to be able to qualify for any financial assistance, grants, low interest loans, and that’s what we are trying to do.”
The town intends to apply for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan funding, which requires that usage fees exceed 1 percent of the average household income in Hatfield. If a USDA loan is secured, the benefit will be a low interest rate.
“One and three-eighths to 1 1/4, for a 40 year note, that’s a great rate,” Prickett said.
The discussion also offered two residents a chance to bring up fears the increase will add undue burden to those who can least afford it, as well as a longstanding unfairness in agricultural water usage rates. E. Larry Grossman, owner of two horses, also recognized the increases, and work, are overdue.
“This is a great initiative you’ve started,” Grossman told the board. “The last time it was not done well, so there’s tremendous deferred maintenance in this town [and] it is time to address it.”
Grossman commented that there are water rates beyond the hundred cubic foot figure used for residential water and sewer usage. He informed the board that agricultural water rates start at $54 as a beginning monthly charge. It was never that high before.
“For the last eight years I’ve been penalized,” Grossman said, because “they changed the rate schedule for agricultural meters, so now I get a bill for $54 ... I would request that when you change the rates, go back to an actual reading and charge me for what water I actually use, not some minimum water rate.”
Prior to the change in agricultural metering rates Grossman’s monthly water bill was less than a quarter of the new charges. “Before?– $10, $12. I only have two horses, so $54 is a lot for water.”
Usage readings precipitate a fee. Grossman suggested those charges be factored into the water rate. Those fees may also be one reason Michael Cahill voiced concerns that water- and sewer-related charges, and others, were adding up to be an onerous burden for senior citizens.
Cahill said, “When you add last year’s increase to it and the increase in property taxes, and the increase in sewer, that’s almost $600 a year.” Cahill came up with a number that concerned him and said, “By my calculations it’s almost $800.”
Prickett addressed Cahill’s concerns by citing the needs identified, and the initial increase, last year, to address it.
“Hatfield has very favorable usage. You’ve managed things very frugally and consciously over the years,” Prickett said. “Now we’re facing a series of steps, and I consider this one pretty modest.”