Wilton’s Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) approved a 5% rate hike for sewer users for FY 2025, following a public hearing on the matter Thursday night, June 27.
The new charges will be $282 per unit — a 5% increase over the current rate of $268 per unit. (Any residence, whether a single-family home or an apartment, is considered one unit.)
DPW Director/Town Engineer Frank Smeriglio presented data at the WPCA’s June 12 meeting which showed Wilton’s sewer charges were significantly lower than nearby municipalities.
The vote to approve the new rate took place after just one resident participated in the public hearing. Barbara Geddis expressed support for the WPCA’s approach of “smoothing out” the rate increase. Instead of a larger hike, the Town will draw $327,612 from the Town’s $12.6 million sewer fund balance to meet its budget requirements.
Geddis also raised the question of whether new developments would pay upcharges as Wilton reaches its sewer capacity limits. Smeriglio explained that new developments do pay a capital sewer assessment in addition to their user charges. Details on how the Town calculates assessments are outlined in the WPCA’s rules and regulations, posted on the Town website.
According to the regulations, non-residential user charges are based on assigned user equivalents. For example, a car wash is six units, a school is 0.5 units per classroom, and an industrial building is based on square footage.
Selectmen Bas Nabulsi, a WPCA member, requested to see historical trend data on the sewer fund balance, as the WPCA is also expecting to draw $1,435,000 from the fund in FY’25 — and roughly $5.3 million over the next five years — for upgrades and repairs to the sewer system.