SAUGUS — At a recent Board of Selectmen meeting, a 5% increase in the water and sewer rates for FY25 was approved unanimously.

Town Manager Scott Crabtree, alongside Matt Abrahams of The Abrahams Group, met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the rates.

Abrahams presented the board with two graphs which showed a nine-year review of water and sewer expenses.

Crabtree said that water and sewer enterprise accounts are the “hardest, most difficult” thing to budget for, adding, “they’re small accounts, and water usage dictates. So…if it rains all summer, people use less water, and we don’t get the projections of what we’re projecting out for revenues.”

In fiscal year 2024, user charges revenue were up 8.4%, and projected expenses are up $953,000 (19.7%) over fiscal year 2023, with Abrahams saying that “some of the bills that were billed at the end of last year, may have come over into this fiscal year, and helped that bottom line for fiscal year 2024.”

For this fiscal year, the surplus is about $500,000.

Vice Chairman Jeff Cicolini said that the revenues presented by Abrahams were “super conservative,” as the figures shown in the presentation were higher than the amount that was projected for fiscal year 2024. “Fiscal year 2024 is going to come in around $6.3 million, and I know you (referencing Abrahams) said we might’ve collected some receivables, but if you use $6.3 million, we’re almost more like break-even,” Cicolini added.

After being presented with several options by Abrahams, the board ultimately voted to approve the lowest presented rate increase option of 5%, which would result in an annual $20 increase to the average residential user.