Water Bill Increases In Watertown Spark Community Concerns

Oh man, are my friends who live in Watertown steaming today, why? Because a few of them have already received their new water bill, and they're seeing the price that has to be paid for someone's mistake.

News broke yesterday on the social media account of Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski that the city of Waterbury has received a $30.6 million dollar payment from the town of Watertown to settle a multi-year dispute between the leaders of both over water and sewer services. Basically, from what I have gathered, the issue was that Waterbury provided water and sewer services to Watertown, but in 2018, Waterbury raised the price, and Watertown for a multitude of reasons did not match the price increase, and continued to pay the old rate.

That amount added up to $18.8 million dollars in 2023, and Watertown was ordered by the Connecticut Appellate Court to pay up. It finally happened just yesterday. You could really go down the rabbit hole on the blame game that is being played out online, but the majority of criticism that I see is being put out there publicly is directed at the former administrators of Watertown.

A few of my friends have already taken to their social media pages warning other Watertown residents to be prepared for anywhere from a $30-50-100 dollar increase monthly in their water bills. Most point out the irony of a 'Water' dispute between Mr. Town and Mr. Bury, or that the water from the reservoir flows through Watertown on the way to Waterbury.

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