BY VINAYA SAKSENA

CUMBERLAND — The Town Council voted to approve across-the-board increases in water rates at a special meeting called to address the issue Wednesday night, after a short and sparsely attended public hearing.

The meeting’s lone agenda item was an ordinance amending the town’s water rates to reflect what Mayor Daniel McKee said was a small but much-needed increase to the rates, approved by the council that night. Earlier this week, the mayor had said that the increases would be the first step toward making the Cumberland Water Department a fiscally stable entity, after a long period of being bankrolled by the town.
The town’s water rates will effectively be raised by approximately four percent across the board, effective retroactively to Dec. 31, 2007, according to McKee and Finance Director Thomas Bruce. As of that date, minimum service charges have been raised by approximately four percent, with the Qualified Elderly charge, for example, going from $25.00 to $26.00, while the largest charge — for 6” pipes — going from $1,505 to $1,565. The Pawtucket Water Supply Board surcharge, meanwhile, was raised from $0.52 to $1.05.
Bruce said the first semi-annual round of water bills, to be issued shortly, was expected to raise approximately $1.9 million in revenue. He said that the next billing, slated for August, was expected to generate at least as much, due in part
to the increased water usage that usually occurred during the summer months.
Bruce said that the southern portion of town — approximately one half of the town geographically — received its water directly from the Pawtucket Water Supply Board, and thus would not be affected directly by the town’s new water rates. The northern portion of town, he said, was covered by the Cumberland Water Department. However, he added that the water department currently purchased approximately 80 percent of that water from the Pawtucket Water Supply Board at a wholesale rate. This factor, along with the department’s financial dependence on the town in recent years, were issues that he said needed to be addressed, particularly in light of the economic downturn being experienced nationwide.
“I have not had the opportunity (previously) to manage such a strained (operation) before,” Bruce said. However, he added, “it’s not just Cumberland, it’s everywhere.”
As for the water department’s finances, town officials are hoping to address what McKee said had been ongoing problems there at an upcoming council meeting. According to the mayor, the water department had borrowed money from the town’s general fund in the past to pay some of its costs. Bruce said Thursday that the town was preparing to borrow money for the department’s costs from a bank, for which the town would obtain competitive quotes. He added that the town had just obtained approval for bank-qualified borrowing the previous day. The town may have to do the same next year in order to finish straightening out the water department’s finances, he said.
Bruce said the town council may take up the borrowing issue at a meeting next week. If approved by the council, he said the closing would likely take place on April 4.