Steep hike OK'd for water, sewer
Some Plymouth homeowners will see their combined water and sewer fees nearly double, under an increase approved last week by selectmen.
The annual bill for the typical customer with conservative to moderate water use will jump from $283 to $508. The increase will be even steeper for those who use more water.
The rate hike will be reflected in twice-a-year bills, starting in September.
The four selectmen who voted in favor of the increase did so reluctantly. Board chairman Richard Quintal was the sole dissenter, flatly refusing to approve the increase.
Quintal said he would rather take back the $840,000 that Town Meeting recently approved for hiring five police officers and starting a new school program.
"If I had this information before I went to that Town Meeting, I would never have gone up to the microphone and supported more police officers," Quintal said. "I've talked to elderly people in town who are already cutting their medication in half."
Other selectmen said town leaders couldn't renege on other financial commitments to keep subsidizing water and sewer costs. "I don't want to be a bad guy, but these rates are needed," said Selectman Butch Machado. "There comes a time when you just can't keep saying no."
Machado noted that the annual water and sewer costs for his mother, a resident of north Plymouth, will go up from $607 to $910 under the new rates. But he pointed out that being on the sewer system is still preferable to having a septic system, which comes with its own maintenance costs.
"I was glad we could move forward with this," public works director Roger Hammond said of the rate increase. "It was critical." Water and sewer rate changes have been under discussion since winter.
Why put this burden on property owners now? The town must address the $22 million debt remaining from the large wastewater treatment plant it built several years ago. Consultants had assured town leaders that projections showed that system users would cover the cost of the plant. That hasn't happened.
"The engineers sold us a bill of goods," said Selectman Kenneth Tavares.
Yearly payments toward the plant debt take up a large portion of the revenue collected for sewer costs. Water accounts are self-sustaining, officials say, but sewer accounts are increasingly running in the red.
Each year, a larger amount must be taken from the town's general fund to offset sewer expenses, said finance director Lynne Barrett, who started working for the town in December and discovered the spiraling debt. Barrett said about $654,000 will have to be put toward sewer costs in fiscal 2009, even with the higher rates.
While many residents may oppose the increase, others, such as property owner Margie Burgess, are resigned to it.
"I'm on a fixed income. It's going to be a hardship, especially with rising fuel costs. But I don't see a choice," she said. "We have to do it."
Under the new rate structure, costs jump significantly for those who use more than the average of about 3,000 cubic feet of water in a six-month billing period. And rates take an even bigger jump for those who exceed 9,000 cubic feet.
According to Hammond, the biggest consumer of water and sewer services in town is the Plymouth County House of Correction. The jail uses more than 13 million cubic feet of water a year. Based on that usage, the jail's annual expense will exceed $1 million.
Hammond hopes the rates will encourage property owners to cut down on water use by installing low-flow showerheads and toilets, and using rain barrels to collect water for outdoor use. "If you conserve water, you'll save money," Hammond said.
Currently, the water system supports 14,000 users, with the network running along Plymouth's coastline. The sewer system is limited to the downtown, waterfront, north Plymouth, and the industrial park. It includes about 3,000 users.
Hammond said most water users fall into the highest rate category because they use more than 9,000 cubic feet every six months. Many are commercial operations, such as restaurants and stores, and they will be hardest hit by the graduated rates.
Hammond said a restaurant whose water bill is about $11,500 per year now will increase to $12,000 a year. Sewer rate increases are more dramatic. A restaurant with a sewer bill that currently stands at $25,000 annually can expect to pay $35,000 under the new rate system.
Officials are still considering mandatory sewer hook-up within two years for properties along the sewer lines and expansion of the sewer network into the densely populated west Plymouth area, as well as along Warren Avenue.
Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com. 