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Date: 10/23/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt is urging the town council to reduce sewer rates by about 25 percent. In a letter sent to Town Council president Brian Griffin, Reichelt recommended the rate be dropped from $5.65 per cubic centimeter foot (CCF) to $4.62 per ccf.
Sewer rates in West Springfield have been a topic of contention since 2017, when the consulting company Tighe & Bond completed a review of the town’s water and wastewater services and found that the infrastructure was in need of significant repair. The wastewater enterprise fund, which is designed to be self-sustaining and allow sewer upgrades and repairs to be funded by those who use the system, rather than all taxpayers, had been chronically underfunded after two decades of infrequent increases to the sewer rate.
Tighe & Bond laid out several proposals to increase the rates in order to fund the infrastructure needs. Reichelt, along with chief financial officer Sharon Wilcox, advocated for a gradual increase of 20 percent each year of six out of the following seven years.
The council, however, decided on a more aggressive timeline, setting the rate at $3.35 in January of 2018, with an increase of 30 percent in July of that year and another 30 percent increase one year later. It was scheduled to be raised to $7.35 in July of this year, but amid public outcry, the council imposed a stay on more increases in February.
“Since this February stay, we’ve had several meetings,” said Griffin. “We also introduced a 10 percent discount for anyone who qualifies for a residential real estate exemption.” The residential real estate exemption applies to several categories of residents including the elderly, veterans and differently sighted individuals. Griffin noted that the stay was done in a joint move with Reichelt, whose office sets the water rate.
Reichelt pointed out that West Springfield’s combined water and sewer rates are competitive with other municipalities in the Pioneer Valley, however, the frequent dramatic increases have left residents feeling the impact.
Reichelt’s plan would set the rate at $4.62 per ccf – what the FY21 sewer rate would have been had the council chosen the incremental increase favored by the administration in 2017. The rate would take effect on January 2021 and remain static until FY23.
Meanwhile, the large rate increases of the past two years have created a balance in the enterprise fund that can continue to pay for the infrastructure work, he explained. So far, pumping stations, water towers and pipes have been upgraded and replaced, but scope of the project and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic means progress is slow.
“I’m extremely open to the mayor’s suggestion,” said Griffin. “You can’t do all the work at once and to collect all the money up front is disingenuous. We’re at the start of this marathon.”
A different tactic to reduce resident’s sewer bills, “winter averaging,” is under discussion in the council’s ordinance and policy subcommittee. Winter averaging takes the average wastewater usage over three winter months – when water usage is generally lower – and bills for that amount of water each quarter.
“I’m not sure where it stands, but I know that chairman [Sean] Powers and his team are working on it,” Griffin said.
Reichelt opposes winter averaging on two fronts. First, he said that by lowering the registered usage, customer rates would have to increase to keep the enterprise fund solvent. The mayor’s second objection to winter averaging is in the logistics.
“It would be difficult, if not impossible for the town to implement with the current billing software and staff,” Reichelt wrote in his letter. “To even entertain the concept, the town would have to completely overhaul its current billing software at a significant cost. Additionally, to implement the ‘winter averaging’ concept, it is likely that the town would have to hire additional staff, all at a cost to the ratepayer.”
Reichelt took issue with a potential move by the council to adopt winter averaging without considering the logistics.
“These challenges have been explained to the council several times on numerous occasions, yet at least one member of the council continues to try to force this concept on the Department of Public Works (DPW) with no regard for the realities that it would require in order to implement,” Reichelt said. He added, “Indeed, the most recent suggestion is that the council will vote to ‘mandate’ this concept and the town employees will be left to ‘figure out’ how to implement the council’s mandate. My staff and also Tighe & Bond have spent a significant amount of time researching the concept of ‘winter averaging’ and explaining to the Council the many reasons it would not be feasible.”
Griffin told Reminder Publishing, “Anything’s on the table and continues to be on the table. You’re only as good as your word. We said that we would look into sewer rates this year and we have been.”
He also noted, “What is great about West Side is that we are willing to collectively re-visit such matters within the executive and legislative branches, roll up the sleeves, and delve into the financial burden of the city as compared to the financial burden of those paying for such services.”