What is the Stormwater Fee on my town utility bill?

The reason for the stormwater utility and related fees is to fund the Federal Clean Water Act stormwater requirements that were revised in 2018 and which have added significantly to the cost of operating a municipal stormwater system.

Without this fee, all other town departments funded by the general fund (Schools, Fire, Police, Library, Senior, Highway, etc.) would need to cut their budgets to cover the cost of compliance with the stormwater new requirements.

The stormwater utility was established by a vote of the Town meeting in the fall of 2019.  The fee system was established by the Selectboard during this summer 2019. Fees were first assessed with the Fall 2020 utility bills and will continue going forward. Each new home or commercial building will be assessed the fee. The rate structure is on the back of
the quarterly bill.

The current fee structure is intended to generate approximately $1.0 Million per year to fund the $955,000 annual stormwater budget and capital project program.
Please see the Department of Public Works website for Stormwater information.