Residential & commercial Ansonia sewer use ratepayers will suffer an initial 38% increase in the sewer use rate beginning in 2025. For the first several years, the massive rate increase will allegedly be shielded by a new “rate stabilization” fund created after the controversial sale of the Ansonia Water Pollution Control Authority to the Aquarion Water Company.The proposed rates are:
$5.15 per 100 cubic feet for residential customers
$26.45 per month for flat rate customers (customers on wells)
Additionally, a new monthly service fee will be introduced. For most residential customers, the new monthly fee is $26.45.
The old rates were:
$3.73 per 100 cubic feet for residential customers
About $26.17 per month for flat rate customers.
Aquarion itself is expected to be acquired by the Regional Water Authority pending approval by state regulators. The latter sale means that Ansonia sewer use ratepayers will be denied the ability to argue against future rate increases before either the local WPCA board of the State of Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.Instead, Ansonia will be represented by one member of the Regional Water Authority on the 20-person Representative Policy Board. However, the Policy Board has 101 weighted votes according to the population of the member communities. Ansonia has three votes out of the 101 total, which guarantees very little protection for Ansonia ratepayers and sewer users.The Ansonia WPCA board was dissolved as part of the sale, which the Republican-controlled Board of Aldermen approved at the behest of Mayor David Cassetti, Corporation Counsel John Marini, and Budget Director Kurt Miller.At the time of the sale, Cassetti and his chief Republican advisors, Marini and Miller, offered confusing explanations for the reasons behind the sale. The Valley Independent Sentinel reported in a June 26, 2024, article: “Opponents have also pointed to a $5 million line item titled ‘use of future revenue’ in the budget passed by the Aldermen last year. That’s money the city doesn’t have, but can get by doing things such as selling its sewer system to a private company.Mayor Cassetti previously indicated that money from the Aquarion sale could serve as that ‘future revenue,’ though city attorney Marini and budget director Kurt Miller both said at the time that the sewer sale is unrelated. The $5 million upfront payment from Aquarion arrives in the final days of that budget. The new budget, which includes $7.4 million in ‘future revenue’ and was passed by the Aldermen in May, will take effect July 1.”In a report downgrading Ansonia’s financial rating, S&P Global cited the city’s use of one-time revenues, such as the WPCA sale, in balancing annual budgets. The Sentinel report referred to the Fiscal Year 24-25.Ignoring the warning from the financial analysts, Cassetti, Marini, and Miller repeated the practice of using one-time revenues again in the current budget, which took effect on July 1, 2025.