Saugus Select Board Sets FY27 Sewer Rate at Zero Percent in 5-0 Vote

Other Committee · Meeting of June 2, 2026

Saugus Select Board freezes sewer rate for FY27 at zero percent, voting 5-0 on June 2. Financial consultant Matt Abrahams of the Abrahams Group, presenting the firm's 11th annual rate study, had recommended options of 4, 5, or 6 percent increases, with a 6 percent hike translating to roughly $28 per year for the average residential user. The board instead held rates flat, citing a projected retained earnings balance of $4.6 to $4.7 million — well above the 10 to 15 percent target — and unresolved uncertainty over how much additional billing revenue the town's ongoing Badger meter replacement program, covering about 7,900 of 9,600 accounts, would generate.

"We're getting an increase because the meters are more accurate," one member argued. "Don't give us another bump up because of that." Abrahams cautioned that a zero-rate year is difficult to recover from and that retained earnings are projected to deplete between FY28 and FY29 under current spending trajectories, with the Lynn Water sewer assessment alone rising 33 percent in FY26.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of June 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.