HADLEY — A substantial increase in the cost of disposing sludge from the town’s wastewater treatment plant is prompting Hadley officials to consider hiking sewer user fees, a 10% rate increase that would come only about 18 months after the board previously made adjustments to sewer and water rates in late winter 2023.

The Select Board on Wednesday was presented with a plan from the town’s financial team that would, based on projections, see a family of three have their sewer bills go up by around $62 each year, from just under $400 to a bit over $461, while a large commercial entity, like a hotel, would get a sewer bill well over $3,100 higher, going from $20,320 to $23.472.

A hearing on the rate adjustments is set for Oct. 7 at 5 p.m.

The main driver of the new increase in sewer rates is sludge disposal.

Department of Public Works Director Scott McCarthy presented statistics showing that, based on the July and August costs, the fiscal year 2025 cost for sludge removal will be $336,000, up $101,065 from fiscal year 2024’s $234,935 costs.

“It’s just getting harder and harder to get rid of the sludge, and people who take it are fewer and farther between,” McCarthy said. “We’re really in a predicament with this.”

Currently, the sludge is trucked to Lowell and Hadley has also worked with the town of Montague to get rid of the sludge.

Treasurer Linda Sanderson said that based on current estimates, the cost of sludge removal will have doubled in just four years.

To cover the $100,000 deficit, Sanderson intends to move $50,000 from the sewer impact account, which has $166,000 remaining in it. The remaining $50,000 will come from the new rates that would kick in on Feb. 1. The town is also examining legislative solutions. As Sanderson said, there is an appreciation that many cities and towns are facing the same situation.

Under the plan developed with Collector Susan Glowatsky, the $7.68 per 100 cubic feet for residential sewer users will go up to $8.45 per 100 cubic feet on Feb. 1 and to $8.87 per 100 cubic feet on July 1.

The so-called commercial baseline, who are non-residential users up to 14,999 cubic feet, rates will rise from $7.88 per 100 cubic feet to $8.67 per 100 cubic feet and $9.10 per 100 cubic feet.

Major users, those 15,000 cubic feet and over, or what is known as commercial conservation, will have rates rise from $8.80 per 100 cubic feet to $9.68 per 100 cubic feet and then $10.16 per 100 cubic feet.

The cost impact for a single person, using 200 cubic feet, would be an increase from $15.36 to $17.75 quarterly, a single family using 1,300 cubic feet would go up quarterly from $99.84 to $115.31, a small commercial customer using 4,200 cubic feet would go up quarterly from $330.96 to $382.26 and a large commercial customer, like a hotel, using 59,300 cubic feet, would go up quarterly from $5,080 to $5,868.

Meanwhile, the sewer rate adjustment plan comes as the Select Board agreed to hire a fourth employee for the sewer department for $57,000. Those costs are being covered by reserves and will lead to better operation, McCarthy said, including more preventive maintenance, more consistency when employees are on vacation or out sick, as well as to comply with Department of Environmental Protection standards.

“I think we can do better with another employee,” McCarthy said.

The department will spend around $281,000 on salaries, but hiring a private contractor to handle the sewer operations would likely cost much more.