Sanbornton sewer rates going down

Sewer users will be getting a reduction in rates this year after the Board of Selectmen decided to make use of some money in a sewer reserve fund.

Town Administrator Bruce Kneuer said that at their Wednesday night meeting, the selectmen decided to apply $5,000 in the reserve fund towards this year’s user rates.

That means the 177 residential users’ annual fees will drop from $168.93 to $146.07.

The bill, which covers January through December, is sent out by June 15 with payment due on July 15, said Town Clerk/Tax Collector Jane Goss.

Administrator Kneuer said town officials recently began wondering exactly why the reserve fund was ever created.

“We noticed it last year, that there was about $30,000 in the fund. And we started asking questions like why is the balance in here? We looked through the records and we can’t say if that sewer fund was ever set up for any specific purpose — except maybe if there was a shortfall on collections one year.” For instance, if the town was billed $35,000 but only collected $32,000 the reserve funds could be used to make up the difference, he explained.

Sanbornton does not operate its own sewer system. It connects with the Winnipesaukee River Basin Project, which serves a number of other Lakes Region communities, including Laconia. The system is owned and operated by the NH Department of Environmental Services.

In Sanbornton, there are 177 residential customers using the sewer system and three commercial customers.