By Drake Lucas
Staff writer
June 27, 2008 12:10 am NORTH ANDOVER — Residents will pay as much as 23 percent more on their sewer bills if a proposal by the town manager to increase sewer rates is passed by the selectmen next month. Water rates are expected to go down 10 percent, meaning the combined water and sewer bill would go up $16 per quarter from $216 to $232. Town Manager Mark Rees said the increase in rates is due to sewer revenue going down and debt service costs going up. In order for the town to cover sewer costs and keep 5 percent in reserve, Rees said the rates will have to be increased. Last year, sewer rates dropped and water rates increased to keep at 5 percent. "This is a very inexact science. It is based on consumption," Rees said. The water and sewer funds are separate from the general budget. Rates are set to cover staff, equipment and major projects related to water and sewer. The two are separate accounts, but come as one bill to most households. Eighty percent of households in town have water, while 60 percent have sewer. That will change soon as the town moves ahead with a plan to bring sewer to more neighborhoods. The cost of the extension of the sewer lines will be divided between all current ratepayers and those who have houses that will be hooking into the sewer line. Town Meeting will decide how that cost is split. The cost for the sewer extension will not hit residents' bills until fiscal year 2010. A factor that might affect water rates this year is a possible 57 percent increase in chemical prices, but Department of Public Works Director Bruce Thibodeau said in a memo that it is too early to tell if that will affect water rates. Selectmen will set the rates at their July 14 meeting.
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