'Final flush' for sewers

"In the words of the late Jack Emerson, this is the final flush," Steven Pedersen said yesterday morning at Town Hall.

[Semantics]

"Balan assured that none of the money for the new sewers will come from a hike in taxes, but said some will be taken from fees each household pays for having sewer privileges. "
Fees, taxes, same thing. Not to mention significantly skewed betterment fees for the last folks to connect, and markedly increased connection fees, and the usual rate hikes for all.
But no new taxes...

[Mary Harrington]

Semantics wrote:

"Balan assured that none of the money for the new sewers will come from a hike in taxes, but said some will be taken from fees each household pays for having sewer privileges. "
Fees, taxes, same thing. Not to mention significantly skewed betterment fees for the last folks to connect, and markedly increased connection fees, and the usual rate hikes for all.
But no new taxes...

As a senior, I definitely agree that the Betterment fees were huge for us on the end of the hookup especially since we did not have an option as to when the sewers were installed in our areas. There should be some type of compensation for us such as a possible percent off our tax rate for several years.
I was just connected this week and could not have been more pleased with the professional job done by the contractor I chose--J.P. and Sons of Tyngsboro. I had the possibility of a number of complications with the layout of my exit pipes, structures and driveway and they were not problem to them. They left my yard looking 100% better than when they arrived. Needless to say I was thrilled with that part too!

[Fast One]

Balan fails to mention why so many contractors want the business - the ponzi scheme of who got sewered at very low prices twenty years ago & why phase 4-5-6 went up more than $1,000 (20%)per year on betterment plus fees. Why control the cost to sewer at all?- just pass it on. Let's start a class action suit on who got sewered cheaply & who lives on private roads & got sewered at public road prices?? These guys couldn't manage cost if their lives depended on it and most Chelmsford residents didn't pay their fair share. Why should costs be divided by when the city chose to bring the sewer out?? Balan chose to pass high costs on to the last people onto the sewer instead of sharing the costs with all the beneficiaries of the system. Nice job Balan & Day! I seriously doubt that there are no other MA cities of 30,000 people who aren't entirely sewered. There's a reason Chelmsford has the highest tax rate around.