Cromwell Special Town Meeting Approves Sewer Budgets, Backs $10 Fee Increase
Town Council · Meeting of March 11, 2026
Cromwell special town meeting approves $10 annual sewer fee increase after rejecting a $5 compromise. Electors meeting Wednesday at Town Hall voted 14-0 to maintain the Cromwell Water Pollution Control Authority's recommended $10-per-year sewer usage fee increase, from $2.95 to $3.05 per unit, after defeating a competing motion for a $5 increase by a vote of 6-5 with three abstentions. Town Council member James Demetriades moderated the meeting and had backed the smaller increment, citing a $2.2 million fund balance and calling the $4 million Shunpike Road project, projected around 2030, "not a solid enough plan" to justify the full increase.
The assembly also voted 13-1 to shift $102,000 in capital equipment purchases, a submersible mixer and a tractor, out of the operating budget and into the reserve fund balance, bringing the final sewer usage fund appropriation to $2,762,409. The sewer assessment fund was trimmed by $5,000 to $34,100 after finance staff found no justification for an increase in the legal representation line. CWPCA chair Alice Kelly told electors the sewer fund pays the entire cost of the sewer department, including $1.8 million annually to regional treatment facilities, with no support from property taxes.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,024 words
Source: the Town Council meeting of March 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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