FARMINGTON — Residents will continue to pay the current sewer rate of $48 for a minimum of 500 cubic feet per quarter and $9.60 per 100 cubic feet thereafter into the new fiscal year, selectmen unanimously decided April 22.

“Apparently we were supposed to do this as part of the sewer budget,” Town Manager Erica LaCroix said. “I am not used to having to reset your sewer rate every year. Part of the process specific to Farmington is you have to vote on that rate every single year. This is not a change in the rate, it is the same rate that you had for the last couple years but you need to approve it this year.”

At the April 8 meeting selectmen approved the proposed $1.27 million sewer budget. The sewer operating budget is up 3.8% over 2024, it was noted then.

The total budget for this year is $49,719 more, an increase of 6.82% over the budget approved for 2024, according to figures provided. It includes $35,000 to replace the boiler at the treatment facility, Superintendent Joe Hartigan noted.

The sewer rate was changed to the current rate in 2023, the first increase since 2018. It was a 20.3% increase over the previous year’s rate of $39.90 for a minimum of 500 cubic feet per quarter and $7.98 per 100 cubic feet thereafter.

The approved 2023 sewer budget was $1,243,464, or $135,233 more than the 2022 spending plan of $1,108,231 — a 12.2% increase.

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