Ledyard — The WPCA approved a 10 percent rate increase Tuesday in order to offset the rising cost of water it buys from Groton Utilities and offset some declining revenues.

The fiscal year 2016 budget sits at $995,900, and was approved by the Town Council Wednesday night.

In a presentation, Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Ed Lynch said that the increase resulted from a variety of factors, including the cost of water from Groton Utilities which rose by 8.5 percent in two stages, 2 percent of which had already been absorbed earlier in the year by the WPCA, Lynch said.

A number of revenues also have been declining, including fees from new meters and other miscellaneous revenues, which is due to a number of medium and large water projects being completed and a low level of development overall in Ledyard, Lynch said.

The annual operating agreement with Groton Utilities declined $18,000 to $300,000.

During the public hearing held Tuesday, Councilor Bill Saums pointed out the proposed budget was $94,000 lower than it was in 2010.

"What I take from these numbers is the town has saved a considerable amount of money going with Groton Utilities," he said.

The rate increase for customers is 10 percent across the board, except for residential customers using between 3,333 and 6,666 gallons monthly, which will be higher. This is because when the WPCA was reviewing their rate charts, they discovered that those customers were actually paying less per 100 gallons than customers who used less water.

The error meant that the WPCA lost out on about $15,000 annually in revenue. The cost for those customers will rise from 75 cents per hundred gallons to 90 cents.

Sewer rates will remain the same.

n.lynch@theday.com