Franklin Matters: Town Council Recap: Water/Sewer Rates Increase as of July 1, 2018

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Town Council Recap: Water/Sewer Rates Increase as of July 1, 2018

In the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Feb 14, the minutes were approved for the January meetings. The appointments to the newly authorized Agricultural Commission were postponed to the next meeting. The appointment of Sean Preston to the Design Review Committee was approved.

All votes were recorded as 8-0 either by roll call or voice (with 1 absent - Kelly).

The Capital Plan was approved and the initial authorization of $1.8 M was approved. $1.5M was allocated from free cash and 325,000 from the "Receipts Reserved for Appropriation-Ambulance Fund"

You can find the details here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10iChpSO_rql6Ksoiwm425UezCYUFBD-A/view?usp=sharing

Following the fiscal planning, amounts from free cash were allocated to the Fire Truck and Turf Fields stabilization accounts. Another $280K was allocated from free cash for the OPEB Trust Fund. This helps fund the outstanding OPEB liability.

The bylaw amendment to cover for circumstances where a developer can leave debris on a sidewalk or roadway as discussed in a prior meeting was revised and brought forth for a first reading. It was moved to a second reading.

The water and sewer rate increase came up for their second readings and were both approved unanimously by roll call votes.

-->Using my own household water and sewer usage from the most recent bill, I calculated the current rate and the future rate to show the projected increase.

	Usage	Current Rate	New Rate	Current Charge	New Charge	Qtrly Increase	Annual Increase
Water	14	$5.25	$5.75	$73.50	$80.50	$7.00	$28.00
		0-15 CCF

Sewer	14	$5.50	$6.05	$77.00	$84.70	$7.70	$30.80
		0-15 CCF
Totals				$150.50	$165.20	$14.70	$58.80