Wastewater rates in the town of Lyndon are going up this year due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The select board on Monday approved a wastewater budget that is $67,000 less than last year’s budget.

But while wastewater spending is down the pandemic related closings of Lyndon Town School, Lyndon Institute and Northern Vermont University as well as shutdowns and changes in local businesses have dealt a serious blow to revenues.

That has left a big hole that must be filled by the ratepayers.

“We need to raise $108,000 more from what we had to raise last year,” said Town Administrator Justin Smith Thursday. “This year we ran a deficit and a lot of that is a shortfall on revenue because a lot of things were closed down. We fell short in revenues due to a reduction in usage.”