JAY – The Board of Selectpersons held a public hearing on the sewer rate Monday evening, opting to wait until after today’s election before setting a rate for the next fiscal year.
The sewer rate consists of two parts: a minimum fee assessed to all users, plus a charge for every cubic foot of water used beyond the first 3,200 cubic feet. In the current fiscal year, the minimum fee was set at $275, with an 8-cent charge per cubic foot beyond the minimum. That raised $414,000 in revenue for the sewer department, paying for 77 percent of the department’s operations and maintenance costs.
As part of this year’s budget process, the Board of Selectpersons and Budget Committee discussed utilizing an additional $54,000 in rate-generated revenue to fund the O&M budget. That would result in roughly $468,000 in revenue, funding approximately 88 percent of the 2017-18 O&M budget, per Superintendent Mark Holt’s calculations, assuming the number of customers and water usage did not change dramatically.
Options to generate the additional $54,000 in revenue include raising the minimum fee as much as $52, or increasing the water usage rate by as much as 2.5 cents, or some combination of minimum fee and water usage rate increases.
Selectperson Tom Goding suggested tabling the actual setting of the rate until after Tuesday’s election, to avoid making decisions for a potentially new board. Goding is running for reelection against challengers Gary McGrane and Anthony Couture, while Selectperson Timothy DeMillo is running against Ricky Merrill. The board agreed, tabling the matter until the May 22 meeting.
In other business, the board approved the signing of the annual agreement with Livermore Falls to pay for the town’s share of the O&M budget of the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. Per the terms of the agreement, Jay would pay 59.6 percent of the cost. Holt noted that the cost calculation was based off usage, as determined by flow meters at the town line on Route 4 and Route 133. Livermore Falls’ board also needs to approve the agreement before it becomes active for the next fiscal year.
The board also approved the sale of tax-acquired property at 35 Main Street to Candy Goodwin of Peru for $6,773. That was the only bid the town received, and it was greater than the minimum bid of $6,600, covering the town’s expenses and back taxes and fees owed by the property’s previous owner.
Voting is ongoing in Jay Tuesday, with polls closing at 8 p.m. at the Community Center. More details about that vote can be found here.
