Letter to the Editor: 06.08.2025

June 8, 2025

To the Editor,

The Town of Watertown owes the City of Waterbury millions of dollars for past due water and sewer fees. It’s high time Watertown starts paying down this debt!

With appropriate prior notice, Waterbury increased Watertown’s water and sewer fees at July 1, 2018 when their prior 5 year contract expired. Watertown claimed that the increase was unfair,so they did not pay any of the additional amounts to Waterbury.  Waterbury then sued Watertown for the unpaid fees.

In 2023, the Superior Court sided with Waterbury and ordered Watertown to pay $18.8million ($14.2 million for the back fees, plus $4.6 million in interest which accumulated at 18% annually). In spite of the ever growing interest on the debt, the Republican-controlled Town Council appealed the judge’s decision.

Now, the Appellate Court says we owe Waterbury $34.4 million because we never paid any of the new fees and we have accumulated even more interest on the previously unpaid balance.

How can this almost double in 2 years?  We citizens have been paying water and sewer fees at a higher rate since 2023.  We were told our bumped-up costs were for the now identified Waterbury fee increases, but why weren’t the extra costs we paid these past 2 years been given to Waterbury?  What has Watertown been doing otherwise with it? No one will answer this question. Rightfully, the citizens who paid these bumped-up costs shouldn’t be charged interest on these increased fees they’ve paid since 2023.  It is not our fault that Watertown did not give this money to Waterbury. Again, the water and sewer users have been duped!

Fix this without delay and send the full amount we paid to Waterbury!  The interest on this debt grows every day and this accounting nightmare for Watertown has only just begun.

Rose Soboleski

Rose Soboleski

456 Davis Street, Oakville, CT 06779

203-217-9786