FARMINGTON – A proposed increase in water rates has prompted selectmen to schedule an extra meeting to question the need for it.

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the town office with representatives from the Farmington Village Corp. and the Maine Rural Water Association to ask why a rate increase is necessary at this time, said Town Manager Richard Davis.

After learning selectmen had questions about the requested 13.23 percent increase for public fire protection, Steve Levy of Maine Rural Water Association said he proposed meeting with the board to explain the calculation.

The meeting will be in addition to the Farmington Village Corp.’s public hearing planned for 7 p.m. Thursday at its office on High Street when its board will take public comments on the proposed increase.

At the present rates, Farmington, combined with the town of Temple, pays $57,500 quarterly for public fire protection. The new rates will raise the figure to $65,106 per quarter or a $30,427 yearly increase, said Jane Woodman, business manager for the water company. The rates are based on 182 hydrants in Farmington and three in Temple.

While the board has not taken an official position on the rate increase, a petition has begun circulating that, if enough signatures are gathered, would ask the Public Utilities Commission to investigate the rates, Davis said.

Corporation customers have the right to petition the PUC, Woodman said. The petition requires signatures from 15 percent of the corporation’s 1,500 customers and would need to be submitted by Nov. 29. Those signing the petition need to be a water customer and there can only be one signature per household, she added.

The PUC requires that a percentage of the water company’s revenue be provided from public fire protection in exchange for the availability of water.

“We have to have a maximum amount of water available to use in case of a major fire,” she said, explaining that the department maintains a 5 million gallon reservoir.

Since the last rate change in 2006, the water company is facing increases in operating costs, she added.

“It’s a matter of doing our work and continuing on our smaller projects to upgrade our system,” she said.

For a residential customer, the proposed increase would bring the minimum 1,200 cubic feet usage of water at a present rate of $40.65 up to $44.21 per quarter. Rates for an average family of four, using 2,000 cubic feet per quarter, will jump from $59.45 to $64.69 per quarter.

The Maine Rural Water Association was brought in to review the plans to see if “the increase was needed and that it was not more than nor less than what was needed,” she said.

More information is available by calling the Farmington Village Corp. at 778-4777.