How about $20,000 for a water
and sewer tie-in fee? It may
sound like a bad dream, but
developers in some parts of Massachusetts
are already facing such
tie-in fees æ and you could be
next. Water suppliers and developers
around New England say
that the threat of high tie-in fees
will crop up as a local issue all
over the region over the next ten
years as suppliers seek to cover
the rising cost of supplying water
and treating sewage.
For now, the problem is worst
in the Boston area, where water
suppliers under the jurisdiction of
the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority (MWRA)
must help pay for the Boston harbor
cleanup. The tie-in fee
schedule in Manchester-by-thesea
(an affluent Boston bedroom
community),