Charter Objection Halts Approval of Pittsfield Water and Sewer Rates
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A charter objection halted the City Council's vote to establish water and sewer rate increases for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
On the table are a 10 percent increase in water rates and a 12 percent increase in sewer rates per year for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Combined, the rates are 5 percent lower than Mayor Linda Tyer's original proposal to increase water by 12 percent and sewer by 15 percent.
The proposals were divided into four orders and Ward 2 Councilor Charles Kronick called a charter objection on the first order after about two hours of debate because he did not want a vote to be taken yet.
The council subsequently took turns calling charter objections on all of the associated orders.
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio said a rate increase is "unsympathetic" while a pandemic is still underway and wants to see it revisited next year.
"Who's helping the taxpayer recover from the pandemic? I sat up here for two years with the last City Council, they raised taxes during a global pandemic, believe it or not, this isn't over. We're all sick and tired of it, it's not over, the masks are going to go away and then the new virus is going to come out and be worse than the omicron, who is helping the taxpayers?" Maffuccio asked his colleagues.
"We've got people who can't afford food, we've got senior citizens on a fixed income who can't afford taxes, can't afford to put food on their table, I'd like to know who's going to help the taxpayers out."
Councilor at Large Earl Persip III said this is one of the hard votes that no councilor likes to take but is necessary to keep providing residents with such services.
"I think it's important that we stop talking about the city versus the residents, we've got to get out of that mentality of us versus them," he said.
"We're all here to represent the residents, these are the residents' bills, we provide services, we provide clean water, we provide a place to flush your toilet, we're just trying to pay for those."
With the lower rates, a two-bathroom home will see an increase of about $77 annually in the fiscal year 2022, and a metered household that uses 220 gallons of water a day will annually pay about $65 more.
They are retroactively effective Jan. 1, 2022, and support the water and sewer enterprise, debt service for capital projects, fund increases in salaries and expenses for utility system operations, and build retained earnings.
Earlier this month, the finance subcommittee supported the water and sewer rates for the fiscal year 2022-2023 but want to see them reduced by five percent in total.
The panel voted to establish the rates with a 12 percent increase for water and a 15 percent increase for sewer per fiscal year in a 3-2 vote with Councilor at Large Karen Kalinowsky and Ward 2 Councilor Charles Kronick opposing.
A recommendation to reduce the water increase to 10 percent and the sewer increase to 12 percent was also passed with Kalinowsky opposing.
The projected water and sewer revenue is nearly $15 million for fiscal 2022 and more than $16 million for fiscal 2023.
The rates were last increased in 2019 when residents saw a 10 percent water increase and a 50 percent sewer increase.
The staggering sewer increase was a part of Tyer's plan to pay for a $74 million wastewater treatment project. The city has been under an administrative order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower the levels of phosphorous and aluminum in the water coming out of the plant.
In other news, former Veterans Services Administrator Lisa Torrey was appointed as the director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP.)
Torrey worked in the Veterans Services Department for four years and in the Pittsfield Public Schools as a special education paraprofessional prior to that.
The council also accepted two large grants from the state: $56,000 from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security for the fiscal 2022 Violence Against Women's Act STOP grant and $20,000 from the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association for the Health Benefits Trust Wellness Grant.
The STOP grant is will go to the Pittsfield Police Department, which will provide an $18,730 in-kind match. The civilian advocate program combines law enforcement and victim service response to maximize the odds of success for the safety and recovery of violence survivors by reaching people quicker and more efficiently.
The MIIA grant provides members with resources for projects and/or equipment that promotes a healthy workforce and healthy work culture. Monies can be used for projects including healthy vending machines or refrigerators, fitness and wellness initiatives, creating relaxing spaces, leadership trainings, and community gardens.
Tags: sewer rates, water rates,
