If you own a home in Cambridge, your water bill could jump as much as $58 and a hefty sewage increase by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority could be to blame.
This week, city officials set the new water and sewer rates, which start April 1. An annual bill for single-family homes is projected to increase by about $29, according to city officials. The bill for two-family homeowners is expected to go up by $40 and three-family homeowners can expect to pay $58 more.
Those numbers represent a 3.9 percent increase in the bills for water and sewage.
City Manager Bob Healy said the increases in residents’ water bills will cover salary and benefit increases for Water Department employees and operating costs at the city’s water plant.
Unlike many communities, the MWRA does not supply fresh tap water to city residents. The city has its own Water Department and uses Fresh Pond and other water sources.
Last year, Cambridge residents were bracing for a huge jump in sewer bills after the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority saddled Cambridge with a 12.1 percent sewer charge increase – the largest increase in the entire metro Boston area. In the end, some fancy cost consolidation calculations by the City Hall financial gurus saved the day and there was no increase for water and sewer bills last year.
“It’s difficult to continue to that,” said Louis DePasquale, assistant city manager for fiscal affairs, citing a large sewer increase by the MWRA again this year.
This year, the MWRA slapped the city with a sewage cost increase of 8.8 percent – still the largest in the metro area. The average MWRA increase for other cities and tows was about 4.8 percent, according to DePasquale.
Meanwhile, DePasquale said city officials are hoping to help residents assess their own water consumption and discover more quickly when they may have a leak. City officials are hoping to set up the Water Department’s billing Web site so that residents can access their daily water consumption rates by summer 2009.
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