Goodbye Fee, Hello Rate Increase For Webster Water Customers
Greg Woods/Town Of Webster
What seems like ‘six of one and a half dozen of the other’ has come to Webster. Instead of seeing a fee on your water bill, you’ll see a larger rate increase than expected.
As we shared on Monday, there was a segment of the Webster Board Of Selectmen meeting set aside for residents to address their concerns about their water bills to Water Superintendent Greg Woods and Town Administrator Doug Willardson.
Many residents did not like the idea of a $20 per quarter assessment fee and a 2 percent raise in usage rates, even though that would have more evenly distributed the cost of the $10 million dollar water filtration plant across all users. After discussing some of the other options it was decided that instead of the $80 per year fee, water rates would increase 14 percent instead.
In an interview with THE LAKE 940, Superintendent Woods mentioned that many of the pipes in town are at least 90 to 100 years old and at the end of their life. Some could be re-lined and others may be replaced at the cost of about $1 million dollars per mile.
Literature that Superintendent Woods shared with us shows that a large portion of the revenue the Town of Webster receives from the water bills are from a small percentage of customers. Mainly hospitals, restaurants, apartment buildings and other businesses.
The Selectmen meeting can be viewed in its entirety below.