Select Board OKs 3% Water, Sewer Rate Increase

Select Board · Meeting of May 19, 2026

Brookline's Select Board approved a 3 percent increase to water and sewer rates. The board voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt the hike, which Raftelis consultant Dave Fox said would add about $25 a year for a typical low-usage household, calling it "absolutely an anomaly" compared with the high single-digit increases other Massachusetts communities face. Water and Sewer Director Jay Hersey presented the $35.5 million enterprise fund budget.

The board also voted unanimously to adopt the town's new Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, presented by Sustainability Director Alexandra Vecchio, and reconsidered Chestnut Hill commercial zoning ahead of Special Town Meeting, removing short-term rentals but keeping a contested transit-oriented housing sub-district intact. Separately, the board backed a petitioner's measure raising Select Board stipends to $4,999 starting in 2029, over a resident's objection that members should have sought a state ethics opinion first.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of May 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.