Haverhill City Council Asked to Approve Hike in Water, Sewer Bills

Haverhill City Hall. (WHAV News file photograph.)

Haverhill water and wastewater customers are in line for rate increases if the Haverhill city council approves a request as part of funding the new fiscal year’s departmental budgets, also known as “enterprise funds.”

On Tuesday night’s agenda, councilors are asked to formally approve funding water and wastewater budget plans totaling nearly $8.1 million and nearly $9.4 million respectively through new user rates of $2.78 per hundred cubic feet for city water and $4.12 per hundred cubic feet for wastewater service. The current rates of $2.71 for water and $3.90 for wastewater have been in place since mid-2013.

Other orders before the council include a total $388,000 in transfers from the current year for a water carbon filter account.

As reported earlier by WHAV, components including the water and wastewater departmental budgets bring the total operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July first to $193.6 million. City Finance Director Andrew Vanni explained the cost of operating city government and schools is $176.1 million. An additional $9.4 million, including $372,000 borrowing for federally mandated combined sewer overflow upgrades, is necessary to operate the city’s sewers and related facilities. Another $8.1 million is needed for water service. Property taxes, fees and state aid generally pay for city government while water and sewer ratepayers pay the costs of those services directly. Water revenues also include $140,000 from the town of Groveland for residents tied in to the Haverhill system, according to Vanni.

The Haverhill City Council meets at 7 p.m., Tuesday, in council chambers at Haverhill City Hall.

4 thoughts on “Haverhill City Council Asked to Approve Hike in Water, Sewer Bills

  1. Much ink has been devoted to the money Representative Dempsey has brought back to Haverhill. Every taxpayer should remember that this money is NOT FREE! It comes from the same pair of pants, just a different pocket. It is STILL we the taxpayer who foot ALL of the bills.

    Where is the overall plan of the Water Department, The City, etc. Everything appears to be a surprise to those who are responsible for and run the various departments. What is going to happen to the rates of the water sold to Groveland? I would hope the Groveland residents who use Haverhill water (or the Town of Groveland) will be assessed the increased fees also, and then some.

  2. It is time the morons running this City came to the realization that the taxpayers have limits even if the spenders in City Hall don’t. There has been a water leak in Bradford by the Daycare Center for almost three months and when you call you are told non to gently “You’re on the list!”, and we know what list. Incompetent management across the board.

    • Jeff, the morons running the city are there for only one reason…they keep get elected into office by voters in the city. By this point, isn’t it safe to say everyone who votes knows the mayor is an admitted liberal tax and spend democrat? Taxes in Haverhill are up over 25% in just the last 8 years!!!! Throw in the meals tax, parking tax, and all the other hidden revenue sources he’s created and it’s no surprise at this point what you get when you vote for him. The only way to stop it is to elect someone new.

      Several years ago when the Hunking issue came up I asked several city councilors if the city had any intention of hiring a professional engineer who specialized in facilities management. The discussions revolved around the fact that any private company/organization that owned property to the scale that the City of Haverhill does has such a person managing those assets. We also discussed that had the city had a professional in place that knew what they were doing the Hunking disaster possibly could have been avoided. So here we are, all these years later and still no professional in place doing that job. This is what you get when people who don’t have experience or expertise in management get elected to do these jobs. And voters have no one to blame but themselves.

  3. Between GO bonds, DEFICIT FINANCE bonds, and the GO WATER BONDS, and Rep. Dempsey comitting legal larceny, The City of Haverhill is still too financially dysfunctional to operate within the constraints that math gives them. Solution? Screw Taxpayers. Brilliant.