NORTHFIELD — Hoping to set aside more money for infrastructure repairs, Northfield Water District commissioners are proposing increasing annual base rates from $360 to $600.
Water Commissioner Steve Malsch said rates have increased incrementally over the years, but a more substantial increase is necessary because the old water main system needs more frequent repairs.
One major repair per year used to be the norm, Malsch said. Now, commissioners can expect more like two or three, plus typical house service leaks.
“Those repairs are getting more and more expensive,” he said. “The revenue is certainly going out faster than the revenue’s coming in.”
The Northfield Water District has invited all members and users to its May meeting, to be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in Town Hall’s auditorium, to discuss the proposed rate increase.
According to a letter sent by the district to all its users, the district is user owned and operated, receiving no money from the town other than fees for water usage at Town Hall, Dickinson Memorial Library, Northfield Elementary School, the Fire Department and the sewer plant. It also receives no funding from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Still, the district must collect money to pay for stipends for its personnel, electricity to run the well pump, soda ash to treat the water, water testing, and other administrative and operating costs, the letter reads. Little money is left for infrastructure improvements, Malsch said.
“If we’re going to do improvements to the district, it’s going to have to come from the district members,” he said. “That’s kind of the harsh reality a lot of districts are going to be dealing with.”
Malsch provided an example of when Northfield experienced two water main breaks on the same day a few years ago, resulting in $20,000 worth of repairs. While he said the system has some fairly new sections of plastic pipe that were replaced within the last 20 years, some of Main Street’s pipes haven’t been upgraded in 30 years, 40 years or longer.
“The pipe that I’m on on Main Street was probably put in in the late 1930s,” he said.
All users pay a base rate of $180, with two billings a year on Nov. 30 and April 30, according to Collector Sherry Finnell. Those who use more than 1,000 cubic feet of water then pay an extra $2 per additional 100 cubic feet.
Finnell said there are 145 district accounts. Making the district’s financial struggles more severe, of those 145 accounts, 37 are delinquent in payment, amounting for $12,132.01 in outstanding payments as of April 10, according to Finnell.
By increasing the base rate, Malsch said the rate hike would affect users across the Northfield Water District, not just those who use more water.
“Everybody across the system has to share into that increase,” he said.