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West Warwick adopts FY27 wastewater budget, keeps rates unchanged; private-well consumption assumption reduced
Summary
The Town Council adopted the FY27 wastewater treatment facility budget without raising sewer rates and advanced an ordinance to lower the private-well assumed consumption from 10,000 to 9,000 cubic feet, a change the presentation estimated would reduce bills for roughly 121 customers by about $48 annually.
The West Warwick Town Council adopted the fiscal year 2027 wastewater treatment facility budget and advanced a code change affecting private-well users at its May 12 meeting.
Jeff, director of administration, presented the budget and told the council: "The proposed budget does not request a rate increase and maintains the rate structure of $4.80 per 100 cubic feet of consumption." He also said the administration proposes changing the ordinance so private-well users are billed based on 9,000 cubic feet rather than 10,000 cubic feet of assumed consumption.
The proposal was presented as producing a modest overall decrease in the wastewater budget compared with earlier figures; Jeff described the draft as roughly a 1.9% reduction from prior totals and listed cost pressures including health insurance, pension, electricity, sludge removal and capital needs. He emphasized that the sludge-removal line item rose because of a contract rate increase with Epic implemented in January, not because the plant is removing more sludge.
The ordinance change would affect approximately 121 private-well customers, which the administration estimated would translate to about a $48 annual reduction in sewer charges per household. Jeff said the net revenue impact to the utility under that change was modest and provided the council the option of amending the ordinance to reflect the lower assumed consumption.
Council conducted a vote on adoption of the sewer budget while acting as the sewer commission and approved the measure. No public commenters spoke during the sewer budget hearing.
The action keeps the $4.80-per-100-cubic-feet rate in place and advances the first reading of the ordinance to change the private-well consumption assumption; the council may finalize the ordinance on a future agenda.
