Wicked Local Aging water and sewer pipes and a race to correct infrastructure issues before the federal government slaps a consent decree on the city has Somerville residents facing significant increases in water and sewer rates for the near future. The Finance subcommittee of the City Council, meeting last week, was asked to endorse a 7% increase in water rates and a 10.5% increase in sewer rates as part of the budget planning season. Councilors told city administrators to take $1 million from the Free Cash account to offset rate increases for those residents identified as low- or on fixed incomes. In a unanimous vote of the subcommittee, J.T. Scott (Ward 2), Mary Jo Rossetti, William White, and Will Mbah, all at large, and Katjana Ballantyne (Ward 7) indicated the committee would not support the requested increases without attempts to mitigate the impact of the escalating fees. Lack of committee support could leave the proposed rate increase at zero, impacting rates in future years.