Somerset Water and Sewer Budgets Propose 4.7 and 8.25 Percent FY27 Increases

SOMERSET — March 16, 2026 — Somerset water and sewer customers face higher bills as proposed FY27 budgets show a combined increase of roughly 6.4 percent before health insurance costs are known. The Advisory and Finance Committee met jointly with the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners on March 16 to review proposed budgets for the two enterprise funds, which together represent approximately $9 million in annual spending. The water department's proposed FY27 budget rises 4.7 percent to just over $4.6 million, driven in part by new State Revolving Fund debt service on the Hot and Cold Lane water storage and booster station project; strip out that new debt and the underlying increase is approximately 2 percent. The sewer department's proposed budget climbs 8.25 percent, with new debt payments on a five-pump-station replacement project — originally estimated at $5.5 million, reduced to roughly $4.7 million after $835,000 in SRF loan forgiveness — accounting for about five percentage points of that rise. A department official confirmed that rate increases for the town's roughly 7,000 customers are "definitely a fair statement," though final figures await health insurance and indirect cost numbers expected from the town in April. The department also disclosed that a pending $4 million federal grant application would require an $800,000 local match, and that rate negotiations with Swansea under an existing water-supply inter-municipal agreement are expected to conclude within about a month.