What are the cost considerations?

Answer

There are three types of costs: Capital, Private Property, and Operation and Maintenance Costs. These are detailed as follows:

• Capital Costs: The Capital Costs include all equipment, infrastructure, engineering, administrative and legal to construct the project. These are typically funded through the public entity, in Sudbury’s case, it is the Town, with a Capital Cost Recovery Program to ensure payment of all costs. These are typically funded by the property owners that abut the sewer infrastructure and per Massachusetts General Law (called Betterments), the Town’s general fund/tax revenues, Grants, Legislative Earmarks, other funding sources with most large capital projects a combination of the above. At this early stage in Sudbury’s case, we don’t know exactly how the project would be funded and are working on preliminary estimates, but there are many unknowns on the project costs at this time. Once more detailed information is arrived at, costs can be more accurately estimated.
• Private Property Costs: The private property connection costs include the actual connection of your house/building to the public sewer in the public right of way at your property line. This cost typically includes decommissioning the onsite septic system and restoration of the area. Most users will have a gravity connection, but a grinder pump may be required if your property is unable to be served by gravity sewers. This cost is highly dependent on your property configuration and restoration costs. These costs are site-specific and can be better defined once the project is further along.  
• Operation and Maintenance Costs (User Fees): Also known as O&M costs, these are the overall costs to fully operate and maintain the sewer system per Regulatory Permit requirements. These costs are covered as user fees. After the time of connection to the public sewer, the property owner will receive a bill, similar in nature to the public water bill most of Sudbury receives from other public utilities. This cost would be based on the number of users connected to the system and the actual operating costs.
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