AUBURN — The Auburn Water trustees approved a rate increase for the first time since 2017, raising customer rates by 13.7%.

During a City Council meeting Monday, Auburn Water & Sewer districts Superintendent Sid Hazelton explained the decision, which went into effect March 1.

He said a family with typical water usage will see a $35 annual increase, while a minimum user would see about a $23 increase.

Any rate increase must go through the Maine Public Utilities Commission and requires a formal notice and public comment period prior to approval.

Hazelton said the primary reasons for the rate increase is for the district to ramp up its replacement of cast-iron water pipes, and due to a guideline that suggests the district has at least 100 days worth of “operating cash” on hand by the end of the year.

While some trustees decried the rate increase, Hazelton told officials Monday that Auburn still holds the 11th lowest water rates in Maine. Prior to the increase, it had the fifth lowest.

Hazelton said the increase will allow the district to ramp up its pipe replacement schedule to two miles per year. There are some 15 miles of the 100-year-old piping left, he said.

Dan Bilodeau, one of three trustees who voted against the increase, has long criticized the cost-sharing agreement between Auburn and Lewiston. In a recent letter to the Sun Journal, he said the trustees should not have allowed the rate increase “in excess of 10%, knowing fully, as treasurer, that the AWD can easily request another rate increase next year if cost apportionment continues to be an unresolved issue.”

Bilodeau said his effort to get the water district to renegotiate its cost-sharing agreement with Lewiston was voted down by the trustees.

Hazelton told officials Monday that the current cost-sharing model is based on a few factors. The cost of water treatment is based on water usage, which generally is split 60/40 with Lewiston using more water.

He said all personnel and watershed protection costs are shared equally, as are most capital projects going back to 1997. He said while the trustees voted to “maintain existing cost-sharing agreements,” all future projects will be discussed with Lewiston on a project-by-project basis.

During the presentation, Mayor Jason Levesque also questioned the decision, including the rate increase impact on public fire protection, which will cost Auburn’s fire department an additional $148,000 annually.

“Has there been a tangible increase in demand for water from the Fire Department?” he said.

Hazelton said Wednesday that the increase to public fire protection is based on a complicated formula regulated by the PUC, which stipulates how much of the utility revenue must be allocated toward fire protection. It takes into account average daily flow, number of customers and other data, he said, which is plotted on a “curve” that calculates the final figure.

He said it hasn’t changed since the 1960s, but is often questioned by municipalities. Rather than use the fire protection curve formula, Hazelton said the PUC does allow cities to conduct “cost of service” studies to determine the figure, but he said those can cost some $20,000, and may not yield the results officials are looking for.

During Monday’s meeting, Levesque suggested that the water district or Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission could instead make an in-kind contribution to help offset the fire protection costs.

“Then we have some balance, maybe,” he said.

Councilor Holly Lasagna pushed back, stating councilors do not have the authority to tell water district trustees “what to do.” She said Levesque was suggesting that Auburn “not pay our fair share.”

“We can encourage them, the trustees are approved by us,” he said.

On Tuesday, Lewiston’s budget proposal for fiscal 2020-21 also included a 15% increase to its water rates in next year’s budget.

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