Today, The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority released the preliminary FY2007 combined water and sewer assessments to its member communities. The 9.8% proposed average increase is the largest in over a decade and is driven primarily by the debt service on the bonds issued to build the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and other major capital projects.  Other factors affecting the budget this year are rising interest rates, health care costs, and extraordinary increases in energy and fuel costs.

This rate increase does not assume receipt of any debt service assistance from the Commonwealth.  MWRA has been working closely with its Advisory Board to lobby the legislature to increase state assistance to ease some of the burden on ratepayers. Every dollar of assistance received would go directly to offset rates. 

On Wednesday, the MWRA Board of Directors is expected to vote to transmit the FY2007 budget to the MWRA Advisory Board for its review. The agencies will work together for the next several months to fine-tune the budget and identify other possible savings.  The final rate increase will be adopted by the MWRA Board of Directors at its June 28, 2006 meeting.

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