Residents: Water and Sewer Bills To Jump By 20 Percent

Town Meeting members approved an $18 million water budget and a $21 million sewer budget this week.

Those Town Meeting votes will translate to a 20 percent increase in water and sewer bills said Framingham Chief Financial Officer Mary Ellen Kelley.

Kelley said based on the approval of the water and sewer enterprise Town Meeting articles, the average homeowner could see their water and sewer bill increase by $250.

Some Town Meeting member said the "huge" increase may shock and "surprise" some homeowners.

The CFO called the increase "substantial."

New rates typically go into effect n July 1.

Homeowners saw between 2-3 percent increase this year (FY13). In FY12, the water rate increased by 5 percent but the sewer rate increase 15-17 percent.

On Wednesday night, Town meeting member Jake Bajakian of Precinct 11 said "we hear the same rhetoric every year on why the rates go up and I still don't understand why the rates go up. ... I have yet to hear about a return on the money we spent. I don't think the rates will ever go down in my lifetime."

The CFO told Town Meeting members that the rate increase is a combination of construction costs for water & sewer and a decline in usage.