The Board of Health is pleased to announce a new round of loans are now available to resident homeowners for the repair or replacement of their failed septic system or cesspool. The board has been making these septic loans available for over a decade to scores of homeowners. In the round ending last December, we loaned over $470,000 to 18 homeowners. The Community Septic Management Program is funded through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Clean Water Trust Fund.

The loans are available to homeowners with an annual income of $150,000 or less. The interest rate established by the Treasurer is 5 percent. A Title 5 inspection report documenting a failed system is required. The loan can cover all used to cover all the costs necessary to repair or replace a failed system (engineering, soil testing, permit and administrative fees, and construction). Homeowners obtain the estimated costs and choose from among the contractors who bid on the project.

The homeowner enters into a Betterment Agreement with the Town to pay back the loan over a 5,10,15 or 20 year period — at the homeowner’s choice. The betterment is placed as an additional line item on their real estate tax bill. A credit check is not required, but all municipal accounts (real estate taxes, water bill, etc.) must be paid and up to date to be eligible for a loan.

Low and moderate income families also have the opportunity to apply for septic upgrade loans through the Fund 20 program announced in February. These loans carry an interest rate of just 1 percent. The loans are also managed through a Betterment Agreement. Funding for this program was approved at last spring’s Town Meeting. The funding source is the betterment payments made to the town under a previous septic repair loan initiative.

To start the application process or answer any questions, please contact the Program

Administrator, Nelia Williams, at williamsn@westport-ma.gov or call 508-858-1008. Further details and application forms are also available on the Board of Health webpage, www.westport-ma.com/board-health.

Submitted by Phil Weinberg, Board of Health