AUBURN – Sewer bills would increase 9 percent in Auburn, thanks to higher costs at the Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority.
Heating oil costs, chemical treatment costs and debt payments mean more expenses, according Normand Lamie, superintendent the Auburn water and sewer districts.
“These are the same things people are seeing in their own households,” Lamie said.
The Sewer District adopted its 2006 budget in December, and that calls for $318,000 in new spending. Much of that is for Auburn’s share at the LAWPCA plant.
“The commission went over it and over it, and there’s not a lot of room to cut,” Lamie said.
The district last increased sewer rates in 2003. The new rate would increase sewer rates from $1.76 for 100 cubic feet of water to $1.92, about 16 cents. For an average sized family, using about 16,000 gallons every 90 days, that would increase sewer bills from $75.88 to $82.71.
The district’s board of trustees should vote on the rate hike in February, after a public hearing. The hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet, he said.
Meanwhile, water rates should stay the same in 2006. The Water District increased its rates by 8 percent in June 2005. That should hold water prices steady through 2008, Lamie said.
Budgets for both the water and the sewer districts will be posted on their Web site, www.awsd.org, in the next few weeks.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.