HATFIELD — Average residential water and sewer users in Hatfield will see their combined bills increase by about $96 as the result of rate adjustments aimed at covering both the operating budgets for the departments and ensuring sufficient money is being saved for emergency repairs and capital projects.
At a public hearing Tuesday, the Select Board, with no comments from residents, unanimously approved the new rates for fiscal year 2026, with the sewer rate for both residential and commercial users going up to $14.98 per 100 cubic feet, an 8% increase over the current $13.87 per 100 cubic feet rate, and the water rate going up to $7.49 per 100 cubic feet, a 6% over the current $7.07 per 100 cubic feet. The water rate for agricultural users will be going up by 6%, from $3.27 per 100 cubic feet to $3.47 per 100 cubic feet.
The rates, examined by town officials in consultation with DPC Engineering LLC of Longmeadow, are expected to cover the $1.52 million sewer operating budget and the $977,704 water operating budget. Typical single-family households who use both town water and sewer will see their annual bills rise from $1,440 to $1,536.
“We landed in a place that I think is a responsible increase that puts the department in a good place for both water and sewer,” said Town Administrator Andrew Levine.
Select Board Chairman Ed Jaworski said Hatfield has often been behind the curve in raising water and sewer rates to keep up with expenses for operations and maintenance.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of costs that we don’t have control over, which are the electricity costs and buying parts and types of stuff like that,” Jaworski said.
Levine said the rates were calculated by making sure they covered the budgets approved by residents at annual Town Meeting in May, accounting for increases in labor costs and supplies and factoring in that there has been frequent underfunding for ongoing maintenance and repairing water main and sewer line breaks.
The new rates will help build a rainy day fund and put the departments in a much healthier place, Levine said.
“That should serve us well in the future, because it’s a more accurate forecasting of what our budget will look like for both of those departments,” Levine said.
Select Board member Luke Longstreeth said officials wanted to make sure that both accounts are bolstered.
“Some of this rate increase is to get those retained earnings balances up,” Longstreeth said.
A recent sewer main break on Main Street showed the importance of that strategy, he said.
Longstreeth said the other priority was trying to keep the agricultural water rate about half of what the residential rate is.
Finance Committee member David Keir said officials next might want to look at whether there should be a higher water and sewer rate for commercial users, which some communities have in place.
Jaworski said extending the sewer system and keeping it in good shape helps encourage companies to come to town, and stabilizes property taxes for residents as farmland is maintained.
While the model covers capital and debt service for both departments, there are two exceptions: the wastewater treatment plant’s gravity thickener upgrades, with $35,000 in principal and interest being paid annually, and the water filtration plant project, with $95,000 in principal and interest paid annually.
David Prickett, president of DPC Engineering, said the town has a solid plan, but one of the unknowns, whenever setting rates, is water consumption.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
