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Falmouth advisory panel weighs sliding‑scale subsidy, monitoring fee to soften costs of advanced septic systems
Summary
Committee members and public commenters debated equity and cost-control options for town support of mandated advanced septic (IA) systems, including a sliding‑scale subsidy tied to the state septic tax credit, a uniform monitoring fee, and the legal hurdle of state rules that may require special legislation for direct town subsidies.
A Town of Falmouth advisory committee on Sept. 11 debated how the town might help homeowners pay for state‑mandated advanced septic systems and whether any subsidy would require a change in state law.
John Kaufman, identified at the meeting as a Water Quality Management Committee board member, laid out a sliding‑scale subsidy that would make town payments inversely proportional to the state septic tax credit so that homeowners across income levels would face similar net costs. "There's approximately 6,500 residential parcels... slated to be, an I ... district," Kaufman said, noting the scale of the potential program and that using a $40,000 system in his example leads to very different net burdens under a fixed subsidy versus a sliding scale.
The chair told the group…
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