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This week on Somerville Neighborhood News we learn more about Water and Sewer Charge: a Surprise for Homeowners by Ciara Speller.
If you are a Somerville homeowner who has not checked your latest water or sewer bill, you might want to.
Effective July 1, the City of Somerville Water & Sewer Department has now decided to institute a monthly connection charge that has caught many residents off guard.
The charge, which has become extremely controversial in recent weeks, was never announced by the city and is not resonating well with the city’s Alderman who were also not included in the decision to establish the new fee.
“I think it’s fair to say from our discussions, that all of the Alderman are quite concerned about this. We’re supposed to be a partner,” said Board President Bill White, who expressed the troubles the charge has caused for the board.
White has also submitted a proposed amendment to the city ordinance to make sure that if there are additional charges instituted, the board will be notified before a people hearing is held to avoid any further complications.
Although these charges have come completely as a surprise to the community and officials, Water Superintendent, Mark Lawhore, says that the charges have been studied for quiet some time and are long over due with all the infrastructure issues Somerville has seen.
“The sewer capacity was 120-years-old in some areas, and wasn’t built for the size and the population that we have now. We’re making those upgrades, and planning at the same time for future developments so that the city will always have that capacity to grow,” said Lawhorne.
Lawhorne apologizes to the community for the lack of communication that went into implementing these new charges and says that things will be different in the future.
The Aldermen will also be holding a board meeting in the coming weeks to address the new connection charge and how it might affect members of the community who had not planned to add extra fees into their monthly expenses.
Both Alderman White and Superintendent Lawhorne have made sure to connect with community residents that have had any questions or concerns about the implemented charges and will continue to do so in the future as well.
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What a ripoff to the residents (owners/renters) The mayor and aldermen should have one the right thing and charged the fee to developers as they and city hall have created this fiasco. The big team in planning, permits, etc. know what the mayor wants and wrongly placed the burden on the residents.
All the infrastructure at Assembly Row that was the responsibility for Avalon Development to pay for ended up being a costly $25+ million dollar bond that the taxpayers are now responsible for courtesy of the mayor & BOA.
The Board of Aldermen need to axe this fee immediately or step down from the BOA as they certainly are not representing the people.
Ditto on what ritepride said. I think we should all give the meters back to them.
Ritepride/AMoor, from everything I have read and people I have talked with the BOA were unaware of the fee coming into existence which to be honest is absolutely crazy We have 15,600 water service connections and water meters in the city which means this is a nearly 1 million dollar additional levy on the city. Where is my shame bell when i need it!
We have a lot of work that needs to be done because our infrastructure, like much of the countries, has been ignored over the last 80 years. It needs to get fixed and paid for and that requires money, not just from new development but from everyone. The current approach disproportional benefits large developments with fewer meters and hookups /person than it does single families. We are all using water and sewer services we should all be bearing the burden equally.
Not that I want to advocate for more taxes but, rather than a fee that goes on forever and we have no idea how it will be spent why can’t we have a fixed tax that will last a specified number of years where every dollar is dedicated to the task of fixing our water and sewer pipes? Tie it to usage or unit, i don’t care – just no more fees where we have no control over the money or how it will be spent.