LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Center Water District (LWCD) Board of Commissioners invites ratepayers to participate in its annual tax levy hearing later this month.
Commissioners set and periodically revise the rates and fees charged for water and services. LCWD raises revenue to fund its ongoing operations and long-term capital projects. The District presently funds 60 percent of its funding commitments from volumetric rates, and 40 percent from a tax assessment that appears on quarterly Town real estate bills.
The 2023 tax levy rate was $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation
The District defrays the cost to ratepayers by about 10 percent via lease revenue received from the three cellular telecommunication vendors.
Commissioners will convene on Monday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m., at the Merritt Center, 600 Market St. A vote is expected during this meeting and the new levy will go into place in 2024.
Board members will evaluate the potential new tax levy, but also whether to maintain or alter the existing split in how revenue is generated.
Dave Fox of Raftelis Inc., the District’s rate utility consultant, will make a presentation on the Board’s options at Monday’s meeting.
“The bottom line is that we have a budget consisting of expenditures that we need to raise funds to cover,” said Superintendent John Scenna. “How we generate it is the pendulum the Board tries to balance. Tax levy is based on property valuation, not how much water one uses. Most utility companies charge based on how much of a product you use. There are strengths to both approaches. Ultimately, that is the decision before the Board at this stage in the 2024 rate-setting process.”
LCWD is currently preparing Fall quarter consumption bills to be issued in December. Information on this process and on the rates can be found online here.
For more information, contact the LCWD at info@lcwd.us.
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