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Residents challenge proposed water and wastewater rate changes and enterprise-fund subsidies

Worcester County Commissioners · May 5, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

At the county's FY27 budget hearing, residents raised alarms about sudden water-bill spikes, costly sewer hookup charges and long-running service-area deficits; staff said chemical, energy and reserve transfers drive some increases and offered follow-up with enterprise-fund staff.

Several Worcester County residents used the May 5 public hearing to press county officials for clearer explanations of proposed water and wastewater fee changes and to report sudden bill increases and high hookup costs.

"It went up $55 at once," Barbara Connor told commissioners, describing a single-month bill increase of $55.38. Other residents described being forced from private septic systems onto county sewer lines with one caller saying she paid roughly $18,000 to connect after regulations changed. "I had to pay the county…

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