NEW SHARON — The Select Board and New Sharon Water District are proposing a referendum for the town to take over the district and provide drinking water and fire protection.

The Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee will hold a public hearing on emergency bill LD 1346 “An Act Regarding the Supply of Water to the Town of New Sharon” at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 211 at the Cross Building at 111 Sewall St. in Augusta. The bill is presented Sen. Russell Black, R-Wilton, and co-sponsored by Rep. Randall Hall, R-East Dixfield, Sen. Joseph Martin, R-Rumford, Rep. Sharon Frost, U-Belgrade and Rep. Robert Nutting, R-Oakland.

The bill repeals the charter of the New Sharon Water District and directs the town of New Sharon to take up the district’s assets, liabilities and responsibilities, if local voters approve.

If the bill gets approval, it goes into effect immediately, allowing for a town vote from noon to 7 p.m. on June 10 at the New Sharon Town Office at 11 School St.

The question proposed to New Sharon voters would be: “Do you favor the New Sharon Water District turning over all assets, liabilities and responsibilities to the Town of New Sharon for the purposes of providing drinking water and fire protection to existing and future customers?”

Prior to that, a public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on May 13 at the Town Office. By then the town and district will have the financial information ready for people to review, Select Board Chairperson Katie Reis said Friday. A flyer will also be sent to residents to inform them of what is going on, she said.

The Select Board and the water district trustees met Friday to approve an order that let the Legislature know that both entities are in agreement with the referendum proposal, Reis said Friday.

The New Sharon Water District has struggled to maintain consistent membership on its board of trustees for over a year, according to the bill.

In recent years, all five of the trustees quit but in June 2024 five new members were appointed as trustees by the Select Board. The majority remain as trustees.

“The current board of trustees and the select board of the town of New Sharon recognize that stability is necessary for ratepayers to be properly served” and this legislation must take effect before the expiration of the 90-day period to authorize submission of the issue of dissolution of the New Sharon Water District to the voters of the town of New Sharon at the June 2025 vote, according to the bill’s wording.

The district has struggled financially as well over the past years. The Maine Public Utilities Commission was conducting a rate investigation but dropped it after the water district implemented a temporary 64% rate increase for one year on Aug. 1, 2024, to help get the district solvent. The rate hike came three months after Treasurer Mercy Hanson, who retired later in 2024, said there was no money in the checking account and the district owed nearly $250,000 on loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank taken in July 2017. The loan payments are about $18,000 a year.

The rate increase is expected to bring in an additional $40,832 annually. On Aug. 13, 2024, New Sharon voters approved raising and appropriating $19,402 from taxation as an advance on the 2025 anticipated payment for fire protection to the New Sharon Water District. The district hadn’t raised rates for eight years and were challenged with increased costs of operation and equipment.

The district, which was formed in 1967, has just over 100 customers. The district has experienced rising operating costs along with increased costs related to meeting regulatory compliance standards.

Maine Rural Water Association in Richmond is currently responsible for billing.

The district has been progressing forward slowly, Reis said.

The trustees have been working hard to resolve the many issues they faced when they became trustees, former Trustee Chairwoman/Treasurer Shanelle Lake said last year. She did not seek reelection this year.

The Franklin County Commission granted the district a $50,000 grant on Nov. 12, 2024, from its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to buy a generator and associated equipment.