SOUTH HADLEY — Annual wastewater bills for residents will increase from $500 to $525 on July 1, 2026 to prepare for $47.2 million of work on the town’s 46-year-old wastewater treatment system.
The Select Board approved the new sewer rate during a Feb. 17 meeting, but opted to maintain annual trash rates at $250 for next fiscal year at the recommendation of Department of Public Works Director John Broderick.
“There’s not a lot of expenses other than direct costs,” he said. “Unlike your wastewater treatment enterprise fund, you know you have millions of dollars coming in. You don’t have millions of dollars of expenses here.”
South Hadley’s entire wastewater system is valued at $200 million. According to a breakdown of costs presented to the Select Board, renovations to the Main Street Pump Station are expected to cost $12.2 million. The improvements to the wastewater treatment plant will likely come in at $35 million.
“I’m not lying to you guys. It needs work.” Broderick said. “This is the biggest investment that the town has.”
Chicopee engineering company BETA Group, who drafted South Hadley’s Comprehensive Wastewater Treatment Plan, recommended the town will need to raise rates $300 over the next decade to fund improvements, Broderick said. For every $10 raise in rates, the town gets $87,000 in funds.
“I’m concerned on the 10-year timeline based on costs today verse costs 10 years out,” Select Board Chair Jeff Cyr said. “The idea that they want to go up $300 in the next 10 years I think is an extremely light number.”
The design phase of the Main Street Pump Station improvements will begin in fall 2026, according to a 10-year timeline of wastewater system improvements. Broderick told the Select Board that unlike the construction costs, all engineering must be paid solely by enterprise funds.
This marks the third consecutive year sewer rates rose for 95% of South Hadley residents, as well as some Granby and Chicopee homes. From 2024 to 2026, town began incremental increases from $360 to $500 a year.
“It doesn’t feel fun to raise rates,” Select Board Member Carol Constant said, “But it’s also totally justified given that we like it when we use our garbage disposals and our bathtubs and everything else that just goes away and we don’t think about it.”
Similarly, trash bills rose from $125 to $250 in two years to pay for trash and recycling carts as well as contracted increases. South Hadley switched to an automated trash pickup in 2024 after Republic Services stopped offering the pay-as-you-throw system.
John Broderick said the cost of solid waste collection for the town rose 6%, or $49,000, next year. He estimates disposal also will increase 20,000, but the number depends on the recyclables market. Currently, the town pays an estimated $600,000 for collection and $695,000 for disposal of trash and recycling.
“Keeping the rate even for the residents is a good thing because it doesn’t cost you anymore,” Broderick said. “When it comes time to present the budget for the Select Board, we can actually take [the difference] out of the end-of-year costs.”
Any changes in rates will go into effect on July 1, 2026 at the beginning of fiscal year 2027.