Stoughton raises its sewer rate 3.5% midyear, to $12.97 per 100 cubic feet, starting with February bills

Stoughton's sewer rate is going up 3.5% in the middle of the fiscal year, from $12.53 to $12.97 per 100 cubic feet of water, after the Select Board approved the increase at a public hearing Tuesday.

Residents will first see the new rate on the February water and sewer bill and again on the May bill, the last of the fiscal year, Water and Sewer Superintendent Keith Nastasia told the board. The town sends water, sewer and trash bills each quarter, in February, May, August and November.

The increase works out to 44 cents per 100 cubic feet, about 748 gallons. Nastasia estimated that on a combined water and sewer bill of $500, with about $300 of it in sewer charges, a household would pay about $10 more. Asked by a resident, he said that was per quarterly bill, or about $40 a year, and that the actual amount depends on how much water each household uses.

Paying the bill

Bills can be paid at the Collector's Office in Town Hall, 10 Pearl St., by mail or online. With renovation work underway at Town Hall, the collector's drop box is now near the building's back door, the town said. The Water and Sewer Department's number is 781-341-1300, ext. 9414 or 9379, and the department posts an abatement application on its town webpage. Asked at the hearing about water used outdoors, officials said the department's regulations give no sewer discount and allow no separate irrigation meter for lawns and gardens, in part to encourage conservation during the drought.

Why the rate is going up now

The town's finance director told the board she found the gap while preparing the forms the state requires before Stoughton can set its tax rate. The sewer enterprise fund's estimated revenue for fiscal 2027 is $10,706,527, against a budget of $10,820,598, a shortfall of $114,071. Without more revenue, the town's general fund would have to cover it, she said.

The state Division of Local Services does not allow a town to estimate more revenue than it took in the year before without a valid reason, and setting the tax rate could be at risk if the gap is not closed, the presentation said. Officials told the board the budget could not be cut midyear and the fund's retained earnings were not yet certified, so a rate increase was the remaining option. They said the shortfall surfaced when a wrong debt exclusion figure was corrected.

A full year at the higher rate would bring in about $304,000, Nastasia said, but with half the year left it should raise about $152,000, enough to cover the gap, with any extra going into the fund's retained earnings.

The board approved the increase on a voice vote, with a friendly amendment asking Nastasia to come back with a detailed analysis. He said he expects to return in January with a full review of both water and sewer rates, and that the hope is to hold rates where they are.

The rate's history

Stoughton's sewer rate had not changed since fiscal 2024, when it rose 18.4%, Nastasia said. Before that it went up 2% in fiscal 2018, 1.5% in fiscal 2019 and 3.3% in fiscal 2020, the year the water rate dropped 5%. The town has 8,746 water customers and 7,343 sewer customers.

During the hearing, one resident asked why the increase came in November instead of the spring, when rates have usually been set, and another asked when the town last reviewed its sewer contract with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. A board member said Stoughton is charged by population as well as by rate, a charge he has tried to have removed, and Acting Town Manager Marc Tisdelle agreed to look into it.

New chair

At the start of Tuesday's meeting, Joseph Mokrisky stepped down as Select Board chair, citing the workload, and the board chose Vice Chair Debra Roberts as chair and Lori Jacques as vice chair.

Label: Reported by us.