Groton -- City taxpayers on Monday evening voted 38-23 in favor of the proposed $16 million budget, with an uptick in both attendance and disagreement compared to last year’s annual budget meeting.

Last year, residents approved a budget that was $898,552 higher by a 27-0 vote.

“It hasn’t been this contentious before, in 20 years,” City Clerk Deb Patrick said about Monday's meeting. 

The topic that caused contention was an item not even in the general fund budget: sewer fees.

Come July 1, funding of the Water Pollution Control Authority will be fee-based rather than tax-based, meaning Groton Utilities water users in the city will pay monthly sewer charges.

According to a May 18 letter that Groton Utilities mailed to account holders, the fee is $0.054 multiplied by the number of cubic feet of water used, plus a monthly service charge. The service charge ranges from $9.40 per month for a meter size of five-eighths of an inch, to $1,081 per month for a meter size of 10 inches.

The tax rate in the 2018-19 budget will decrease .64 of a mill - from 5.22 mills to 4.58 - which means a resident’s tax bill will go down by $64 per $100,000 of property.

Mayor Keith Hedrick said that continuing to fund the WPCA by taxes would have caused an 1.1-mill increase in the tax rate.

Jay Dempsey, the most vocal critic of the change at the meeting, said the change is “probably about a wash” for his house, assessed at $350,000, but expressed concern that the change will hurt those with lower assessments.

Hedrick said the city has been examining the sewer funding change for five or six years, and that Groton is one of the only municipalities to keep sewer expenses in the general fund rather than an enterprise account.

“This is more equitable and fair now because the sewer fee is based on your water usage; it’s not based on the value of your property,” he said. “Before it was based on the value of your property and you could use as little or as much as you wanted and it doesn’t matter.”

One resident speaking in favor of the budget at Monday’s meeting was Daniel Tompkins, who said city residents receive services that “are second to none, at a very affordable rate.”

Those voting against the budget largely did so out of opposition to the sewer fees, and felt their hands would be tied if they voted yes. But others said there had been ample time in recent months to speak about the change.

The city in March advertised an ordinance that established sewer fees, which the city council passed in April. The council will vote on the sewer budget at its June 18 meeting.