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Water and sewer boards report steady operating budgets; Veolia contract and insurance hikes raise sewer costs
Summary
Town of Charlton water and sewer officials told the Finance Committee overall revenue and operating lines are roughly level; sewer maintenance costs and a 3.5% Veolia contract increase plus corrected insurance allocations produced the largest budget changes.
Cheryl Savivas, a member of the Town of Charlton Water & Sewer board, told the Finance Committee that the water budget is largely level‑funded for the coming year and that post‑project staffing has left only a small split of employee OPEB exposure between the two funds.
On sewer, Savivas said maintenance equipment costs rose and that the Veolia North America annual operations contract increased about 3.5 percent. “Sewer is mainly the maintenance equipment expense…except for the Veolia annual contract because the contract went up 3 and a half percent,” Savivas said.
Committee members pressed for detail on the 12 percent rise in maintenance expenses; Savivas attributed this to replacement parts, lab testing and other operation and maintenance increases as the plant age‑related work continues.
Savivas also said that a prior under‑allocation of general insurance costs to the sewer fund had been corrected. That reallocation produced a one‑time jump in the sewer budget’s insurance line; the board reported the correction showed an approximately 71 percent increase in the line because previously those expenses were not consistently charged to the sewer account.
The board said Veolia’s contract is multi‑year and that some of the recent increase reflects partial‑year alignment after a November contract start. The board does not propose major staffing changes in water; the sewer budget reflects maintenance needs and warranty/parts cost escalation.
The Finance Committee asked staff to provide a clear line‑item breakdown of the maintenance increases and to document the Veolia contract term and scheduled increases so members can assess whether the changes are recurring.
