By Ethan Forman
Staff writer
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DANVERS — Amid a drop in water use, rising costs and the need to pay for an expensive upgrade to the town's water treatment plant, the average residential customer will pay $138 more a year for water and sewer.
That figure is based on rates the Water and Sewer Commissioners set Tuesday night, with residents using 12,000 cubic feet of water a year.
Residential customers will have to pay $34.56 more each quarter under rates that kick in today.
The new rates are up 11 percent over the old ones, said Town Accountant Leonard Marshall, who is also the Department of Public Works' business manager.
Since Danvers supplies Middleton with its water, the new water rates apply to the neighboring town, but not the sewer charges, Marshall said.
Danvers uses three tiers to promote water conservation, meaning the less residents use, the lower their rate. The town bills for water four times a year.
Under old the water rates, the typical homeowner paid $141.02 a quarter, including a quarterly base charge of $8.34. Under new rates, the average home water user will see a bill of $169.64 a quarter just for water. That includes an increase in the quarterly base charge to $10.50.
Sewer charges did not go up as steeply as water rates.
Sewer bills are going from $173.04 a quarter to $178.98 a quarter.
Marshall said Tuesday's public hearing drew about five residents, including one who said large families are having trouble keeping their water use within the lower tier of rates.
Rates are increasing due to declining sales, Marshall said, driven by the tiered water rate structure, state restrictions on use and more rain.
Also driving up rates is a 12.8 percent increase in the Water Division's budget, Marshall said. Town Meeting approved a $5.8 million budget for the division and $600,000 for water main replacements. The Sewer Division's budget of $5.6 million was up 6.4 percent.
This year's water rate also sets aside $250,000 to help pay debt for the $20.6 million upgrade to the Vernon C. Russell Water Treatment Plant in Middleton. The debt will peak in a few years, Marshall said.
