Haverhill residents can expect to see increases on water and sewer bills beginning this month.
Water bills are expected to increase, on average, by $16 for the year, while wastewater bills will go up, on average, $11 per quarter. The Haverhill City Council gave the okay Tuesday to Deputy Public Works Director Robert E. Ward, who explained why the increase is necessary.
“Several years ago, we decided to move ahead with a couple of large capital projects, upgrading the water treatment plant and replacing some of our larger water transmission mains, and in fiscal 21, the loan repayments are going to be starting,” he explained.
Ward told the Council his budget is increasing by $1.5 million just for the loan repayment. He also said, like many other businesses, the coronavirus has had an impact on water and wastewater usage. He said the water rate increases from $3.03 to $3.25 per unit–or 7.3 percent. He noted there was no water rate increase last year.
On the wastewater side, Ward said, the increase is closer to 11.4 percent and also the result of a number of recent and ongoing improvement projects.