Fall River committee rejects recommended FY26 water and sewer rate increases, refers measure to full council

A Fall River City Council committee on Monday voted to deny the proposed FY26 ordinance to raise water and sewer rates and sent the measure to the full council with no recommendation.

The committee action followed public comments urging the council to reject more increases and a presentation from city utility staff that revised earlier proposed rate hikes. Paul Furlan, administrator of community utilities, told the committee the revised sewer budget would be $32,785,387 and that the sewer rate in the proposal had been reduced from $8.51 to $8.43 per unit. He said the revised water budget would be $16,571,442 with a proposed rate of $4.41 per CCF, down from $4.58, and that the combined effect on a standard household — using the administration's historical 53 CCF per year — amounted to about a 2.9% increase, or roughly $9.01 a year on the water side and about $16.96 for sewer on average.

The nut graf: The committee's denial — made as an express motion to deny the proposed rate increases and to forward the item to the full council with no recommendation — means the full council will next consider the revised ordinance and attendant budget documents after a meeting that included heated public comment about affordability and a detailed staff review of revenue assumptions,…