FRAMINGHAM — Condominium owners at a 200-unit complex off Edgell Road believe they've been unfairly penalized by the city, saying they weren't properly notified of changes to their water bills that have led to thousands of dollars in additional payments.
Most of the residents at Windsor Green claim that ever since their water meter was replaced in December 2022, they have been tasked with paying higher water bills, with no prior notice from the city. The meter in question serves 194 of the 200 units in the complex; the remaining six units each have their own meters, which were not replaced and did not see a drastic change in their bills.
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Duncan Fuller, president of the Windsor Green Board of Trustees, said the monthly price the entire complex must pay has more than doubled.
“The total has gone from about $13,000 to roughly $28,000 per month,” Fuller said. “We got this enormous bill with no explanation, until we sat down with the city Water Department and they told us we were getting this (higher) 'factor.'”
Framingham uses 'tiered' system to bill for water usage
Framingham bills water usage based on the number of “units” of water each property consumes, using a tiered system where the rate increases at larger amounts of usage. The more water units (a single unit equals 750 gallons) a property uses, the higher the tier it falls into and the property pays a higher rate for that additional water usage.
Historically, a "factor" has been applied for multi-unit residential buildings, to distinguish them from large-scale industrial or commercial buildings. The factor would divide the building's total water usage by its number of residential units, thus often leading to multi-unit residential buildings being classified as Tier 1 properties — similar to most single-family homes.
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Fuller said that before the new meter was installed in December 2022, Windsor Green was benefiting from this formula, keeping water bills for individual Windsor Green units to be in line with those for single-family homes. But when the new meter was installed, the factor went away, and the 194 condos at Windsor Green that used that single meter were charged as if they were one single, large user. Fuller noted that overall water usage in the complex has actually decreased in the past year.
The 194 Windsor Green units under the single meter consume about 800 units of water per month. But Fuller and other residents argue the factor should still apply, noting that on a per-unit basis, each individual condominiums consumes an average of just 4 units of water monthly. Tier 1 properties are those that consume no more than 5 units of water per month.
"We would be well under the first tier," Fuller said.
Should condos pay the same rate as single-family homes?
A key distinction Fuller made was that Windsor Green is owner-occupied housing, run by the nonprofit Windsor Green Home Owners Association, as opposed to larger-scale apartment buildings, such as The Buckley, which are for-rent apartments owned by large developers. Windsor Green residents pay property taxes in Framingham, and argue they should be treated the same as residents of single-family homes.
“We are a nonprofit organization," Fuller said. "We are 200 individual taxpayers. In our eyes, there is a very black-and-white difference between the HOA and another apartment complex. We are single-family homeowners, we just happen to live in common buildings."
Issues with water billing have been a headache for Framingham in recent years. Last year, then-Chief Financial Officer Louise Miller reported that different multifamily properties were being billed at different rates, and that rates had been manipulated at the account level.
The city has subsequently hired a consultant, Weston & Sampson, to look into the city's water billing structure.
"The consultant will study the finances of the water and wastewater enterprise, including the debt service and all other operating expenses of the department," said Framingham Public Works Director Bob Lewis. "The consultant will be making recommendations toward an appropriate water and sewer rate that extends out a minimum of five years."
Mayor Charlie Sisitsky added that after receiving the consultant's report, city officials will internally assess it.
"Following our evaluation, we will present the report to the City Council,” the mayor said. he said the ultimate goal is to attain water rates that are fair to all residents.
“The intention is for the City Council and the administration to collaborate on reviewing future adjustments to water and sewer billing,” Sisitsky said.
Residents seeking $259,000 in adjustments
Windsor Green residents have submitted a proposed adjustment to the city, hoping to either get refunded or credited for what they view have been extra water payments.
“We submitted for $259,000 in adjustments," Fuller said. "We thought they removed the factor in error, and the former chief financial officer (Miller) asked us to submit an adjustment. Whether or not she had the power to assess the adjustment and refund us the difference between the Tier 5 industrial rate and Tier 1 single-family rate."
Fuller said that in order to cover the recent higher-than-expected water bill, each homeowner was forced to make a one-time payment. He also warned residents that if the factor isn't restored, water costs will continue to rise.
“Since the water bill ended up being 2.5 times what we had originally budgeted, we had to assess the homeowners between $1,500 and $2,500 as a one-time assessment just to cover the water bill,” Fuller said. “We told residents that if the city does not add the factor back in, it will roughly increase the homeowner fees between $70 and $115 dollars, each and every month, just to pay for water.”
Sisitsky said the city does not have an official policy regarding how multi-unit buildings will be billed — a determination that will be made after the consultant completes its report.
"The city needs to update its water and sewer policy and to update its abatement policy in regards to water and sewer," the mayor said.
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