Weston Select Board votes 3-0 to raise water rates 20 percent

WESTON — October 11, 2022 — Weston Select Board raises water rates 20 percent, citing decades of underinvestment in aging infrastructure. The three-member board voted unanimously at its October 11 meeting to set new tier rates of $2.65, $7.95, and $15.90 per unit, effective October 1, 2022 — the first increase since fiscal year 2021. Finance Director Susan Kelly projected the hike would push the water enterprise fund balance to roughly $2.1 million by the end of FY2023, generating an estimated $800,000 in additional annual revenue. Board Chair Chris Husted, who made the motion, argued the town faces at least $38 million in water tank replacement costs through 2029 and called current rates "ridiculously low" compared to peer communities — noting Wellesley had just raised its rates 50 percent. The board also unanimously rescinded drought-related water conservation restrictions imposed in July 2022, and appointed Christopher Palmer and Michelle Samu as trustees of the Merriam Fund, a local emergency-assistance charity established in 1865.