BUCKFIELD – The 179 customers of the Buckfield Village Corporation are facing the highest water-use rate in the nation, selectmen were told Tuesday night.

Steve Levy, executive director of the Maine Rural Water Association, spoke to the board about problems facing the corporation, which proposes a 75 percent rate hike to cover costs of a filtration plant for its supply from North Pond. A typical customer would pay $615 a year, more than double the statewide average of $300, he said.

Town Manager Glen Holmes said if some of the big water users in town drill wells, the rate could go as high as $800.

“If that should happen it would be a very bad spiral. The Public Utilities (Commission) said if this should happen it would be a death spiral,” Levy advised. Levy said he has been working with the corporation on the situation, and the corporation proposes to restructure its rates to make them fair to all users.

Only seven of the 179 customers have meters; the others have fixed rates.

He said officials found inequities in the way rates are charged. Some private homes are using more than is being paid for. He proposes having each homeowner being one unit and apartment building having more units.

The rate increase was proposed this year to cover the corporation’s $1.1 million debt. A loan was secured after the federal Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1986. That required surface water suppliers to install a filtration plant, drill wells or get a waiver for the plant. The engineer hired advised the corporation to build a plant.

Buckfield was given a waiver but it was lost in the mound of paper work involved in the process, former corporation director Bob Lipham said.

The cost of the plant and installation was expensive as well as the upkeep, Levy said.

Levy said the town could put in a well, but the loan must still be paid.

The corporation is a small utility and the rate increase is the only answer, Levy said. He said bankruptcy is not an option because the corporation has the right to levy fees on homes within its district.

Selectman Chris Haywood asked where Buckfield stood in the state with the proposed water rate increase.

Levy said the $615 annual cost would be the highest in the state.

Haywood asked what the state average was, and Levy replied it is close to $300 a year. Levy added that the second highest water rate in the country is in southern California at $598 a a year.

“The issue here is how will the BVC handle the debt,” Levy said.

The Public Utilities Commission is meeting again on the issue before ruling on the rate request at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at PUC offices in Augusta.

Holmes told selectmen that he needs direction before they decide to see it the town wants to take over the corporation.

“I’ve been to all the meetings and conferences and it’s time for the town to decide how I should be spending my time,” Holmes said.

“We need to put this before the people,” Haywood responded. “It’s like a flaming fire and we have no water to put it out.”

Holmes said, “This is not just the water users’ problem; it is a community problem. All will be affected one way or another.”

The town pays 30 percent of the water district charge for fire protection.

A public hearing on the issue is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School. Holmes said he would ask the corporation send each resident a letter asking them to attend. Levy will also be present.