BUCKFIELD – Water bills for about 185 customers are on the way up – again.
Homes that get their water from the Buckfield Village Corp. could see their quarterly bills go from $80 to $200 if the Maine Public Utilities Commission approves a request pending before it.
The rate increase would be the latest in a series of hikes approved by the PUC to help the corporation, which runs the water utility, pay off a $525,000 loan used to move water lines and make repairs along Routes 117 and 140.
Homes on the system are already facing a 75 percent rate increase for the coming quarter, which will send the typical bill from $80 to $140. Water users are also being billed retroactively for a 75 percent rate increase for the months of May and June.
Robert Lipham, a Buckfield landlord with nine rental units, said he has to pass the increase on to his tenants but can’t legally raise rent retroactively the way the corporation has been allowed to raise its water rates.
“If the BVC gets what it wants (the 145 percent rate hike), then I will have to raise rent for each of my tenants $30,” Lipham said.
He believes the financial issues faced by the corporation stem from the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996. The act mandated that cities with open water sources filter their water. While some major cities were granted a waiver, Buckfield’s water corporation was denied a waiver because of failure to submit bi-weekly reports. The corporation then had to borrow $165,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to pay for the filtration process. Lipham and others said the filtration system was an uncessary mandate from the federal government that is now costing local families a lot of money.
“I blame the federal government for coming in here and shoving this down out throats,” Lipham said. “Our drinking water was excellent in comparison to other major cities.”
Steve Levy, executive director of the Maine Rural Water Association, who helped the corporation get earlier rate increases approved by the PUC, agreed with Lipham.
“In general, the Safe Drinking Water Act hits smaller systems harder because they have less of a customer base to cover the debt of the filtration process,” Levy said.
At the time of its first 75 percent increase, Buckfield Village Corp. was within days of defaulting on its loans from the USDA, Levy said.
To help water users absorb the large hikes the Buckfield Village Corp. is allowing customers to pay their quarterly bill in three installments. Previously, customers were required to pay their bill within 30 days of reciept.
One solution to the ongoing water rate hikes may be to disolve the corporation and turn its functions over to the town of Buckfield. A referendum set for November elections will ask Buckfield voters to approve the town taking over the water utility.
“The town’s intent is to gain control of utilities because it is the right thing to do and it could possibly save money for everyone,” said Glen Holmes, Buckfield’s town manager.
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