WEST SPRINGFIELD – In January, Reminder Publications reported on multiple public complaints following a 100-percent sewer rate increase, which was the result of a November 2017 Town Council decision. Now, after dozens of citizens continued to speak out about the higher rates, the councilors have decided to take back their decision.

On Nov. 20, the Council voted 8-0 to implement higher residential, commercial and industrial sewer rates from Jan. 1, 2018 through fiscal year 2020 as a means to help cover necessary maintenance work. The rates doubled from $2.23 per user to $4.46 per user, and were set to remain for the rest of fiscal 2018. The Council intended for the next increase to begin on July 1. 2019, marking the beginning of fiscal 2020, with new rates of $6.24 per user.

The rate spike was proposed as a way to address the chronically underfunded Sewer Enterprise Fund. Because of lower sewer rates in the past, any shortcomings from the fund have been passed along to the General Fund – resulting in an incremental increase to the town’s regular tax rate over time. The purpose of the increase was to facilitate a phased ramp-up of capital spending to a total of $3 million by fiscal year 2020. The council hoped to use the money to focus on a backlog of sewer-related projects.

However, after the rates went up on Jan. 1, residents started posting in the “West Springfield, MA” Facebook forum, an open forum designed for residents to connect with each other and discuss town-related events, to voice their grievances.

“I understand our infrastructure is aging and improvements have to be paid some how, but there has gotta be a different approach that doesn’t hit homeowners so hard. It’s not residents’ faults the town didn’t keep up with calculating expenses over the years and is now doing damage control. Taxes go up. Water rates go up. Sewer rates go up. What little increase you get in your salary annually goes to the town or state. You never end up in the green. With all this money coming in now to the sewer fund, I expect to see lots of sewer improvement projects throughout town. They sure as hell better not sit on the money after crying they have no money for maintenance,” Todd Sterlings commented.

“If you read the announcement, the rate goes into effect on January 1, 2018 yet all usage for the last reading in December 2017 is charged the new rate as opposed to the old rate. The billing dept. was directed to charge the new rate because it was billed in 2018 even though the usage was in 2017. I don't agree with that since the rate was not in effect for our last reading. When they bill us should be of no consequence,” wrote Rose Marie.    

With much of the concern surrounding billing cycles, residents on fixed-incomes and questions of leadership, the West Springfield Town Council initiated a “special session” on Feb. 26 to vote on the possibility of lowering the rates and implementing an incremental increase instead.

The Council voted to reduce the rates by 50 percent, dating back to Jan. 1.

“Through nobody’s fault, two issues hadn’t come up in the previous study session,” said Town Council President George Condon. “We talked about the impact of the lump-sum increase, but we didn’t really think about the impact on the commercial side of things, it’s a little embarrassing on our side. We didn’t think about restaurants or other commercial businesses that use a lot of water.”

The other issue Condon referred to was the billing cycle. Although billing doesn’t fall under the purview of the Council, he said questions of billing were not discussed in any prior meetings regarding the sewer rates.  Once a rate change goes into effect, for either sewer or water, it includes any bills generated after that date. There are roughly 9,000 sewer bills that go out each quarter, which are broken into blocks of about 3,000 per month – for the three months in the quarter. Because the billing date for the sewer rates was set for Jan. 1, it included usage rates for October, November and December. The February bill included usage for November, December and January, and so on. However, the Council agreed to allow a credit for users who have already paid their bills dating back to Jan. 1. The credit can be applied for bills in the next quarter.

Condon initiated the special session, and said he believes the new rates will still help the Council reach it’s overall goal.

“I think it’ll help the town reach its goal it’s – not as quickly as I would like, though,” said Condon.

The city plans to tackle a number of infrastructure projects over the next 10-15 years, explained Condon. The Town has $18 million worth of infrastructure work they hope to begin in the spring.