JAY – Following the recommendations of the sewer committee, selectmen agreed to issue sewer bills in the next fiscal year on a per unit basis, holding off on implementing a new system that would bill on the basis of water usage.
According to Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt, a committee made up of both town sewer users and non-users met for the first time and decided, following a preliminary review, that more time would be needed research and discuss the proposed switch.
“They’ve found there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye,” Holt said, speaking of the complexity of switching billing calculation methods.
The selectmen have been looking into switching the method of fee calculation from a per unit system to one based on water usage. Currently, sewer users pay $290 per unit if they utilize the system. Selectmen unanimously voted to support the change at their Dec. 21 meeting, but altering the sewer ordinance, which would have to change to put the new system in place, requires approval at a town meeting.
In the new, proposed system, each customer would pay a minimum usage fee for a certain amount of water usage per year. Those who use less than that amount of water would pay the minimum fee. Those who use more would pay a certain fee for each cubic foot of water used beyond the minimum.
However, the committee said they wanted to spend more time developing the water meter-based system for implementation for fiscal year 2011-2012. For the incoming fiscal year of 2010-2011, selectmen will need to set a sewer rate using the per unit system.
That task has not been officially completed, as a public hearing is required to set the sewer rate. However, selectmen have instructed Holt to raise $356,000 through sewer rate revenues to help cover a preliminary operating and maintenance budget of $535,000, in the next fiscal year. That increase would equate to a $22 increase in the current sewer rate, to $312 per unit. Selectmen approved rate increases of $40 and $25 in 2009 and 2008, respectively.
After holding a public hearing, selectmen will officially set the rate.
The sewer committee also declined to immediately begin charging municipal buildings for sewer usage, a possibility that had been discussed along with changing from a per unit to a per use system. A decision on if and when to begin charging town departments for sewer usage will be made at a later date by the committee.
Holt said that one goal for the town should be helping educate Jay residents on what the change would mean, and provide opportunities to answer questions and gather feedback.
“I think there is a misconception out there is that everyone the bill is going to go sky high once were go to meter readings,” Holt said. “There’s some confusion with [the billing change] and picking up a larger percent.”
Selectmen and Holt are interested in seeing the sewer rate rise to a point where the town would be eligible for grant money. Holt has said that the department has no major improvements scheduled for the next five years, but that the treatment plant and pump stations will eventually need to be replaced. Currently, U.S. Department of Agriculture grant money becomes available if the average sewer bill in the town of Jay was $420, and users would need to be paying roughly 100 percent of the cost of operating and maintaining the system.
The grants can be substantial; Holt has noted that Livermore Falls received roughly $2 million in grant funding for their treatment plant work 10 years ago, as part of a grant/loan package through the USDA.
