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South Burlington proposes modest rate rises, major culvert and treatment projects in FY26 budget
Summary
Public works staff presented proposed rate increases in the FY26 budget — a stormwater ERU increase to $7.92 (~$8/month), a proposed wastewater rate increase of 8.75% and a drinking-water increase of 8.8% — and detailed planned culvert replacements, Bartlett Bay wastewater upgrades and a new water storage tank to be bid.
Department heads at the Dec. 12 FY26 budget retreat described a combination of steady rate increases and multi-year capital projects for stormwater, wastewater and drinking water.
Tom DiPietro, director of public works, said the stormwater enterprise is proposing a 3% rate increase that would set the equivalent residential unit (ERU) at $7.92 per month — about $8 for a single-family home — and that the department secured roughly $1.7 million from multiple grants for neighborhood stormwater treatment projects. DiPietro said staff will undertake a culvert inventory and prioritize culverts that are undersized or that impede aquatic organism passage; he also identified a planned Bartlett Bay culvert replacement and additional culvert work in the Butler Farms/Oak Creek neighborhoods as fiscal‑year 26 capital items.
On wastewater, staff described continuing large projects at the Bartlett Bay treatment plant and Airport Parkway plant, including solids-handling improvements and a clarifier; the wastewater enterprise proposed an 8.75% rate increase for FY26, and staff said that bonding and federal procurement rules (for example, Buy American requirements) are complicating equipment acquisition timelines and costs. Wastewater staff also noted security and monitoring upgrades (cameras at the two largest pump stations and both treatment facilities), higher alum and chemical costs post‑COVID and staffing needs: the draft budget includes two additional wastewater positions to provide daily staffing at both plants and increase in-house collection-system maintenance.
Tom DiPietro and wastewater staff raised PFAS (per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as an emerging issue: biosolids that historically were beneficially reused on agricultural fields can contain PFAS that accumulate over time, and new state and federal rules are still developing. DiPietro said the community’s levels are not comparable to the worst‑case situations reported elsewhere, but cited incineration or landfilling of biosolids as alternatives if regulations change.
Drinking water staff reported progress on a lead-service-line inventory required by federal rules. DiPietro said the first, paper‑based phase identified a large number of service‑line materials as “unknown” and that field verification will be required in a second phase; he said the town has identified zero confirmed lead service lines so far but that the number of unknowns requires follow‑up. The drinking-water rate increase proposed in FY26 is 8.8%, largely driven by costs that include a new storage tank that the city expects to bid and continued meter conversion to radio reads (Neptune system).
Staff said water loss in the distribution system is about 24% and that repairs and a hydraulic/infrastructure assessment are planned; they also cited an expected purchase-price increase from the Champlain Water District and noted the city is still at the lower end of regional residential water costs despite the proposed increase.
Ending: Council members asked for additional detail and follow‑up on the lead‑line inventory methodology and for ongoing updates to rate analyses before finalizing FY26 rates.
