Taunton sewer rates will rise 5% on July 1, 2027, after a 5-4 council vote

TAUNTON Taunton's sewer customers will pay 5% more starting July 1, 2027, after a divided City Council, sitting as a Committee of the Whole, voted 5-4 for the increase on Tuesday, Oct. 13. A second 5% increase, for July 1, 2028, failed 3-6 in the same session, and the full council adopted the committee's recommendations at its regular meeting that night.

At the same meeting, councilors voted 9-0 to approve separate tax rates for homes and businesses, and 9-0 to move $937,259 out of the city's Stabilization reserve in each of the next two years to cover the Taunton High School debt exclusion. Chief Financial Officer Patrick D. Dello Russo Jr. told the council that step would cut the average residential tax bill by about $50 a year without affecting city services, the minutes show.

How the sewer vote split

Councilor Debra Botellio made the motion for a 5% increase effective July 1, 2027, and Councilor John McCaul seconded it. Botellio, McCaul, Edward Correira, David Chaves and Council President Barry Sanders voted yes. Phillip Duarte, David Pottier, Deborah Carr and Scott Martin voted no. All nine councilors were present for the roll call.

Martin, who chairs the public works subcommittee, told colleagues that his subcommittee had recommended no increase and that the full council voted that down 6-3. That sent the question back to the full council sitting as the Committee of the Whole. Pottier recalled that the Department of Public Works commissioner first asked for a 12.5% increase in year one to keep up with operating costs. Botellio noted that sewer rates already rose 4% for the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30, 2027.

Councilors disagreed mostly over when an increase should start. Pottier said waiting until July only "kicks the can down the road" and said he would be more comfortable with 5% on Jan. 1, 2027, or a review of rates at that time. Duarte warned that the sewer enterprise fund is projected to end the year in a deficit and said a mid-year increase was meant to cover that shortfall. McCaul said a January increase on top of this year's 4% would add up to 9% in one year. Carr opposed setting an automatic increase for July 1, 2027, and said the council should meet several times in early 2027 to look at actual costs and revenue first. Chaves backed the July date, pointing to regular quarterly checks with the finance chief.

Correira then moved a second 5% increase for July 1, 2028, seconded by McCaul. Only McCaul, Correira and Botellio voted for it; Martin, Carr, Pottier, Chaves, Duarte and Sanders voted against. Pottier said he would not lock in another increase before the council reassesses rates. Martin reported that the public works commissioner and the administration agreed to give the council quarterly updates on the sewer fund.

Three residents spoke before the 2028 vote. One estimated the 5% increase at about $40 a year and said the increases add up for people who are struggling. Another said there is no way to monitor sewer use and that he did not want to pay for service he does not use. A third asked about money taken from the sewer fund for a city solar project. Earlier in the debate, Carr said the $1.1 million the finance chief found had been sewer money to begin with; Dello Russo said the money was not improperly shifted and that savings from fewer panels at the solar site went back to the enterprise fund.

Tax rates and the high school debt

The tax votes came at the council's fiscal 2027 classification hearing, where the Board of Assessors and the finance office laid out the numbers. The assessors reported that assessments rose about 6% for fiscal 2027 and that the tax levy is $148,959,067. Taunton's average single-family tax bill, $5,540, remains below the Bristol County average of $6,829, they told councilors.

Sanders moved to approve a split tax rate, and the council agreed 9-0. Sanders also moved to set the shift, which decides how much of the tax load moves from homes onto business and industrial property, at what the minutes record as "the 1.7490 % level." He tabled that motion while the hearing was opened to the public, and no one spoke. After public input closed, the minutes record a 9-0 roll call without naming the motion it decided.

The two $937,259 transfers pay the high school debt exclusion for fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028, which taxpayers have been paying on their bills. About 20,000 taxpayers carry that cost, city finance officials told Carr. Dello Russo said the city could cover the debt for the next two fiscal years. The Stabilization balance is about $46 million, the minutes record, and city policy calls for reserves of 3% to 10%, Dello Russo said.

Carr said she worries about seniors on fixed incomes whose taxes keep rising and who may not qualify for help. The council approved her motion to have the Assessors Department and other departments count how many senior households over age 70 the city has.

What happens next

• The council and its committees meet next on Monday, Nov. 2, rescheduled because of the Nov. 3 state election.
• Dello Russo asked to give the Committee on Finance and Salaries a first look at fiscal 2027 first-quarter results and the city's financial position on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and the council sent his request to that committee.
• The Finance Department and the Department of Public Works asked in an Oct. 21 letter to meet the council's public works committee on Tuesday, Dec. 8, with their BETA engineers, to review the needs of the wastewater enterprise fund.
• The 5% sewer increase takes effect Thursday, July 1, 2027, with quarterly updates to the council before then.

How to weigh in

The council meets in the Chester R. Martin Municipal Council Chambers at City Hall, 15 Summer St. Regular meetings include a public input period: speakers give their name and address, keep comments to three minutes or less and address the council as a whole, and written comments may also be submitted. The city's number at City Hall is 508-821-1000.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.