Funds Sought To Help Homeowners Pay For Sewer Connections

CHATHAM – Homeowners who may have financial difficulty connecting to the town’s sewer system could benefit from a proposed sewer assistance program, which will go before voters at the May 10 annual town meeting.

 The measure seeks $50,000 in free cash to supplement Barnstable County’s Cape Cod AquiFund program. The program provides loans to help homeowners afford sewer connection costs, which can run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

 The initiative is similar to an Orleans grant program that provides sewer connection funds to year-round property owners who have already qualified for an AquiFund grant. The $100,000 available for the program is expected to help a dozen or so property owners.

 The Chatham program would be separate from another designed to provide grinder pumps to homeowners along the sewer lines who need them. The select board backed a policy to provide the grinder pumps to qualifying residents along with a one-time $2,000 payment to cover installation costs. A request for $1.2 million to cover the program is expected to go before the May town meeting.

The county’s AquiFund program provides 20-year loans for residential properties to upgrade Title 5 septic systems and connect to municipal sewers. Septic system upgrades are currently only eligible for 4 percent loans, but sewer connection loans qualify for zero to 2 percent interest rates, depending on the owner’s income level. Only residential properties qualify, and only year-round, owner-occupied single-family dwellings are eligible for the zero to 2 percent rates. Rental and seasonal properties only qualify for 4 percent loans, even if mandated to connect to sewers, according to the AquiFund website.

The town’s sewer assistance program would supplement the AquiFund program. However, details on whether the programs would be grants or loans and what the repayment options will be have yet to be determined. Initial criteria will include year-round residency, a new sewer system connection and proof of qualifying for a zero percent interest AquiFund loan. The money could be used for engineering services, connection costs or to pay for the abandonment of an existing septic system, according to a March 14 memo to the select board from Town Manager Jill Goldsmith and Executive Assistant Cathy Lewis. Staff are developing further details of the program to present to the board at an upcoming meeting.

The select board on March 18 agreed to place the article on the town meeting warrant and voted unanimously to support it.