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Jay selectpersons set sewer rate

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The Jay Board of Selectpersons.

JAY – The Board of Selectpersons approved increases to the sewer minimum use fee and per cubic foot rate at Monday’s meeting, actions intended to raise the $54,000 in revenue approved by voters at the annual town meeting last month.

By a 4 to 1 vote, the board approved a $40 hike in the sewer minimum use fee to $315, as well as a 1 cent increase per cubic foot of water beyond the 3,200 cubic foot minimum; from 8 cents to 9 cents. Those rates are projected to generate at least $468,000 of revenue for the department, Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt has calculated, or 89 percent of the Operations and Maintenance budget. Taxpayer-appropriated funds supply the other 11 percent, equating to approximately $9.50 on every $100,000 of property valuation.

Selectperson Judy Diaz made an initial motion to set the sewer minimum use rate at $300 and the per cubic foot rate at 9.5 cents, saying she believed it would have the least impact of the various options on residents on fixed income. That vote was 2 to 3, with Selectperson Keith Cornelio in favor and Chair Terry Bergeron, Selectperson Timothy DeMillo and Selectperson Gary McGrane opposed.

Bergeron then made a motion to go with the $315 minimum use rate and the 9 cent per cubic foot rate. That motion was supported by 4 to 1, with Diaz opposed.

Holt noted that the June 13 vote on the sewer department budget, one of two town departments that was voted down at the April 25 town meeting, would not impact the sewer rate. The sewer rate changes implemented by the selectpersons Monday evening are tied to Article 22 of the April 25 referendum, which set the town’s revenue. That vote approved the $54,000 in additional revenue from sewer fees.

“Voting no on the sewer budget will not change what the sewer bill rate will be,” Holt said.

The Board of Selectpersons approved a $526,300 budget for the sewer department at a meeting on May 1, with that figure going to the voters on June 13. That would represent a $4,000-plus decrease from the budget rejected on April 25, and a $14,000-plus decrease as compared to the current fiscal year. It also incorporates an $8,350 increase in the the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Facility line.

The board also held a public hearing on both articles that will appear on the June 13 warrant: the sewer department as well as the town government budget. In addition to the $4,000 decrease in the sewer department budget, the board and budget committee also cut $4,500 from the town government budget. Those funds had been earmarked for employees selling back vacation time, but the employees had met and determined that no vacation time would be sold this year.

If those budget both passed, along with the $18 million school budget and current state subsidy projections, Jay would see a $1.4 million decrease in funds that needed to be raised locally. That would make up for the $1.33 million Verso mill settlement payment, although the town has yet to see the impact of the mill’s new, reduced value following the machine shutdowns.

Absentee ballots will be available until June 9. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on June 13 for the town budget votes, the school budget vote and the statewide bond question.

In other business, the board approved placing a $24,300 reimbursement for a Jay Police Department officer that trained at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and then became employed at another town into a special revenue account. Those funds could be used by JPD in the event it needed to train a new employee or pay Academy-related expenses. A special town meeting vote would be required to approve that transfer; that meeting will likely occur in June during one of the regular selectperson meetings.

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3 Comments

  1. I’m still voting No. Enough is enough. Too many people working at too high a salary and benefits. Plus a company car. Where are the cuts?

  2. lets keep putting up the sewer rate and water usage and we have more people leaving town . we need more people on board with Judy who care about people just getting by.
    I will also vote no

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