PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council is amicable to a new calculation for water and sewer rates.

A formula-based approach that aims to fairly adjust rates yearly was preliminarily approved along with an eight percent water and sewer increase for fiscal year 2025. Mayor Peter Marchetti's proposed ordinance bases rates on the Consumer Price Index Factor (CPIF) and the Operational Stability Factor (OSF.)

"Any mayor would love to take the City Council out of the process, say 'Here's the formula.' Every year, bang, there's those rates. We didn't do that," Marchetti said.

"We wanted to be fair and transparent and here's our formula, you guys still need to approve it so again, it isn't something happening downstairs in the corner office all by myself trying to make stuff."

Commissioner of Public Service and Utilities Ricardo Morales displayed a graph of rates over the last 10 years and said, "we have been all over the place." He thanked the council for asking the city to provide a history of rate changes because it was not much of a consideration in the past.

With a method that systematically changes rates, Morales said that the erratic line can be calmed, more programmatic, and more purposeful.

"This method provides predictable changes, it provides stability to our rate structure, it promotes a sense of transparency because you know what to expect at the very least on the CPI side and you know what's going to come if we are proposing more improvements to our infrastructure," he explained.

"It improves our resource management and accounts for our current and future needs."