Wastewater costs: two separate pots
The planning study and a possible village sewer build are different money. Mixing them confuses the conversation. Below: (1) what connected households would pay if Alternative 1 were built with no Vermont grant or principal forgiveness, then (2) what the $125k study actually costs Westfield taxpayers.
Fact labels mark figures from the town FAQ, CWSRF loan papers, or the 90% Preliminary Engineering Report (PER). Opinion marks Corey’s judgment. Counterfactual marks “what if the study loan were not forgiven” arithmetic — not a bill anyone owes.
1. Build without Vermont grant/forgiveness
Fact The 90% PER recommends Alternative 1: gravity collection in the village plus a force main to the existing Troy–Jay wastewater treatment facility. Chapter 6 prices that plant as an ERU user charge on properties in the service area — not a town-wide mill-rate tax — unless voters later put the debt on the general fund.
Fact PER Table 6 · Scenario A (100% loan, 0% grant)
$5,611 / ERU / year ≈ $468 per month · about 6.2% of town MHI ($90,625)
The PER says this is not considered affordable. It concludes that roughly 80–90% grant and/or principal forgiveness would likely be needed before user rates look manageable for Westfield residents.
Verified inputs (Alt 1 · Scenario A)
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Capital (planning-level) | $9,211,032 | PER §6.2 / Table 6 |
| Annual O&M | $54,400 | PER §6.2 |
| Finance | 30 yr @ 2.0% | CWSRF planning assumptions |
| Annual debt service | $411,272 | PER Table 6 |
| Total annual cost of service | $465,672 | debt + O&M; Table 6 |
| Total ERUs | 83 | 59 residential + 24 non-residential |
| Annual cost per ERU | $5,611 | $465,672 ÷ 83 |
| Monthly cost per ERU | $468 | $5,611 ÷ 12 |
| Town median household income | $90,625 | PER §6.2 (ACS) |
| Share of MHI | ≈ 6.2% | PER §6.4 |
Other funding scenarios (same plant)
| Scenario | Grant | $/ERU/yr | $/mo | % MHI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A – 100% loan | 0% | $5,611 | $468 | 6.2% |
| B – 50/50 | 50% | $3,133 | $261 | 3.5% |
| C – 80% grant | 80% | $1,646 | $137 | 1.8% |
| D – 90% (sensitivity) | 90% | $1,150 | $96 | 1.3% |
Source: PER Chapter 6, Table 6 — docs/wastewater-study-90/06-user-cost-and-affordability.md
Fact Who pays: under the PER’s design, users in the proposed service area (about 83 ERUs) pay the user charge. The rest of town does not, unless a future vote moves the cost onto the municipal grand list.
Fact
A “grant” or principal forgiveness is not free capital. It shifts most of
the $9.2M onto a shared federal/state pool (CWSRF forgiveness, USDA RD, CDBG, NBRC) that
neighboring towns are also trying to draw from. O&M ($54,400/yr for Alt 1) stays on
users either way. See docs/taxes/README.md (“A grant is not free”).
2. Study / due diligence ($125k forgivable loan)
Fact Town FAQ · CWSRF planning loan RF1-386-1.0
Taxpayer cost of the study: $0 $125,000 forgivable planning loan — town FAQ: the Town is not incurring costs for the study
Fact The Selectboard used a Vermont DEC Clean Water State Revolving Fund forgivable planning loan of $125,000 (loan RF1-386-1.0) to pay AES Northeast for the Village Wastewater Study. The town’s published FAQ answers “How much money is this study costing the taxpayers in Town?” with: the loan is forgivable, so the Town is not incurring any costs for the study. Public-meeting minutes likewise record that the $125k study is fully funded and will not cost taxpayers.
Opinion That is a fair (even cheap) price for due diligence before anyone decides whether to build a multi-million-dollar village system. Knowing the numbers — including that a full-loan build would be about 6% of MHI — is itself valuable, and Westfield residents are not paying local taxes for that report.
Counterfactual only: if the $125k were not forgiven
Counterfactual Do not read this as a per-citizen bill or as something anyone owes. If the $125,000 were raised once on the municipal grand list (~$75.8 million listed), the rate would be about $0.165 per $100 of listed value. On a $200,000 listed homestead that is about $330 one-time — not “$330 per citizen.”
| Assumption | Value |
|---|---|
| Study amount | $125,000 |
| Municipal grand list (approx.) | $75,800,000 |
| Rate per $100 listed | ≈ $0.165 |
| Example homestead listed value | $200,000 |
| One-time tax on that homestead | ≈ $330 |
Grand list ≈ $75.8M from docs/taxes/README.md (PVR / municipal levy context).
Homestead example matches the tax docs’ average listed homestead (~$201k).
Arithmetic: $125,000 ÷ $75,800,000 × 100 ≈ $0.1649 per $100;
($200,000 ÷ 100) × $0.1649 ≈ $329.82 ≈ $330.
Optional secondary $125,000 ÷ 534 residents (2020 Census / PER Table 1) ≈ $234 per person. That is only another way to scale the same counterfactual pile; the study is still forgivable, so actual local taxpayer cost remains $0.
Keep the pots separate
- Study: $125k forgivable → local taxpayer cost $0. The ~$330 figure is a counterfactual on a $200k homestead if it were not forgiven — not a per-citizen charge.
- Build (Alt 1, no grant): ≈ $5,611/ERU/year ($468/mo, ~6.2% MHI) on service-area users — unaffordable per the PER without large subsidy.
Sources
- PER Ch. 6 / Table 6:
docs/wastewater-study-90/06-user-cost-and-affordability.md(PDF: Wastewater-Study-90-Report.pdf) - Population 534: PER Table 1 —
docs/wastewater-study-90/01-project-planning.md(2020 U.S. Census) - Loan RF1-386-1.0: PER front matter —
docs/wastewater-study-90/00-front-matter.md - Town FAQ ($125k forgivable; taxpayer cost $0):
FAQs – Village Wastewater Study (PDF)
· also Selectboard minutes in
docs/wastewater-study-90/appendices/G-public-meeting-minutes.md - Grand list / grant-pool notes:
docs/taxes/README.md - Town study landing page: westfield.vt.gov/village-wastewater-study