Residents press town on water and sewer bills; staff outlines rates and new meter capabilities

Residents used the Oct. 28 town hall to press town staff for details about water and sewer billing after a resident described a recent large irrigation-related charge.

Town staff provided a breakdown of recurring charges cited at the meeting: a customer (base) water charge of $6.50, a sewer charge listed at $18.50 (noted as having risen from a prior level), and a combined minimum bill described as $25.63. Staff said those charges apply across several neighboring service areas. The town also has a sales-tax rate applied to water services described in the meeting as 9.75 percent.

A resident who recently installed a second meter for irrigation described a bill showing about 70,000 gallons used during initial watering and said the town contacted the household because usage was roughly three times the system average; staff said the system monitors usage across roughly 22,000 customers and will flag unusually high usage for follow-up. Staff said customers with newer meters can get detailed start/stop timestamps for usage events (for example, to see when irrigation cycles ran), but the system cannot currently identify appliance-level usage the way some electric meters can.

The town acknowledged that it paid nearly $400,000 in merchant/credit-card fees last year and discussed payment options including mailed paper checks (no fee aside from postage), ACH/bank-draft options, in-person payments and a drop box. Staff also said adding a second meter to segregate irrigation can reduce billed sewer charges; the resident stated the incremental cost to add a second meter was about $1,000 in their case but emphasized that installation and plumbing costs vary.

No formal policy change or vote occurred at the meeting. Staff directed residents to the utility office for account-specific questions and said they would follow up on payment-fee and meter-implementation details as needed.