AMHERST — An average Amherst homeowner’s annual water and sewer bills will rise by about $57 if water and sewer rate increases proposed by Town Manager Paul Bockelman are implemented by the Town Council,

Based on projections included in a May 14 memo to councilors, the average water bills would go up from $470 to $495, while the average sewer bills would increase from $506 to $538.

Without discussion on Monday, councilors referred the adjustments to the Finance Committee for deliberation and a recommendation. The proposal includes a 5% increase for water consumption, from $5 to $5.25 per 100 cubic feet, and sewer going up 6.4%, from $5.50 to $5.85 per 100 cubic feet.

Bockelman said Tuesday that even with the increase, what Amherst users pay remains below that of other communities. His data shows that the $1,033.20 bill for an average user in Amherst is only lower in the South Hadley fire districts and in Greenfield, while people pay more in Easthampton, Holyoke, Hadley, Northampton, Belcherton and South Deerfield.

The increased rates, he added, are necessary for maintaining the water and sewer infrastructure and covering ongoing costs.

In making his recommendations, he considers the impact on users, even as the changes come as water consumption has been dropping by about 2% a year, while fixed costs of operations remain or go up.

The budgets, $5.72 million for water and $5.89 million for sewer, cover ongoing expenses, as well as special projects, such as the Centennial Water Treatment Facility, pegged at $21.5 million two years ago, and the project related to the gravity belt thickener and reuse water for the sewage treatment plant, estimated at $3.3 million.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.