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Worcester County reviews four water and sewer rate options as officials plan FY26 enterprise budgets
Summary
County staff presented four rate scenarios for the county’s water and wastewater service areas, including a proposed Option 3 that would keep most service-area funds self-supporting and a phased Option 4 with general-fund support. Commissioners asked about grant eligibility and timeline for consolidation.
County water and wastewater staff presented four rate-structure options April 1 as part of Worcester County’s FY 2026 budget work session, showing different mixes of customer-rate increases, service-area consolidation and limited general-fund support for enterprise deficits.
Staff said Option 1 would leave current rates unchanged and produce a combined projected deficit of about $5.24 million across all service areas for FY 2026. Option 2 would push each service area to be fully self-supporting and would generate an estimated $197,444 combined surplus. Option 3, the administration’s recommended approach in the FY 2026 proposal, maintains separate service-area accounting but updates fees and usage tiers (notably a structure based on the first 18,000 gallons at a lower per-thousand rate and a higher rate for usage above that threshold). Option 4 would phase toward a single consolidated service area with a planned general-fund subsidy to reduce immediate customer impacts; staff refined the original estimate of required general-fund support from about $2.1 million to roughly $1.8 million as figures were updated.
Staff also proposed standardizing commercial billing (moving away from tiered commercial rates to a per-EDU charge), adding an accessibility charge to EDUs that are purchased but not connected, and applying a common debt-service charge ($4 per water EDU and $27 per sewer EDU) across service areas. Other changes discussed included new testing requirements (PFAS and additional wastewater permit monitoring), updated allocations for vehicle and support costs, and capital requests such as a new sewer-vacuum truck (estimated near $800,000) and several plant improvements.
Commissioners asked about potential effects on future grant eligibility (for USDA, MDE and other low-interest programs) if service areas were consolidated. Staff said they were coordinating with bond counsel and permitting agencies and did not expect consolidation to bar grant access; some large grants and earmarks previously awarded to specific service areas (for example, funds already committed to Lewis Road, Mystic Harbor and Riddle Farm) would remain factored into planning.
No vote was taken on a single option during the work session; staff said the board must adopt final rates during later budget hearings. Staff noted the planned start date for one new treatment plant (Riddle Farm) in December and said FY26 figures assume several months of pumping/hauling and partial-year plant operations while startup proceeds.
