The Lynnfield Center Water District Board of Commissioners invites the community to attend a public hearing on its volumetric rates for the coming year on Monday, February 26, 2024.
The hearing will be held on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Meeting House, 617 Main Street, Lynnfield (On the Lynnfield Common).
LCWD raises its revenue through volumetric rates, which are based on a customer’s usage, and an assessment on individual real estate bills.
District leaders work closely with its outside financial team – certified public accountant Dick Hingston of Dick Hingston Government Accounting, auditors Roselli, Clark and Associates, and financial consultant David Fox, Senior Manager at Raftelis – to ensure the District follows generally accepted policies and procedures and common municipal utility standards.
Revenue supports the District’s operating budget, which includes:
- Employee salaries and vendor contracts
- Indirect expenses, including insurance benefits and retirement
- Maintenance and contractual expenses to pump, treat and distribute water
- Material expenses required for the above
- Debt payments for borrowing on capital projects
- Administrative expenses required to manage the business aspect of the District
- Consumption projections based on past historical data analysis
LCWD customers are welcome to attend the hearing. The hearing will be opened to public comment and questions. Interested parties also may submit testimony in writing in advance of the meeting.
New volumetric rates will take effect on March 1, 2024 and first appear on quarterly bills issued in June 2024 for consumption that takes place in March, April and May.
Once the rate setting process is completed this month, the Board will then turn its attention to finalizing details of all items in the FY25 budget, the Annual and Special District Meeting that will take place in early May and completing bidding on the Capital Projects. The Glen Drive Treatment plant is currently out to bid, while details on the interconnect design and permits are being finalized prior to that project going out to bid.