FRENCHVILLE, Maine – A handful of people attended a Tuesday night public hearing about a proposed water and sewer rate increase to Frenchville residents. For the majority of local ratepayers, this means a $140.49 increase in annual costs.
Frenchville currently charges residents an annual rate of $404.25. It has kept that rate flat for the last 11 years, after it had briefly risen in the previous few years, reaching $428.87 in 2012 and 2013
But while the rates have not changed for more than a decade, the department’s expenses have continued to grow. Town Manager David Cyr showed attendants a packet with the department’s expenditures from 2018 to 2024. During that time, expenses rose from $147,482 in 2018 to $166,850 annually in 2024. This was funded with $89,135 in Frenchville user fees, $51,040 from the neighboring town of St. Agatha and $29,946 via taxpayer subsidy.
Users are divided into four separate groups. The first and largest group is residential, which consists of 194 users who each pay $404.25 and would pay $544.74 under the new proposal.
The next group is for people living in apartments, and it consists of 18 users who each pay $303.20 currently and would pay $432.79 for a total increase of $129.59 in costs.
The third group is for single bathrooms in business establishments, and it consists of 16 users. This group currently pays $202.15 annually and would pay an additional $117.24 for a total of $319.39 under the new costs.
The final group is benefitted users, or residents who do not use the town’s water and sewer system but who do have the ability to hook into it. This group, which consists of 13 residents, is currently paying $269.20 but under the new plan would only pay $94.04 because they are not actually hooked into the system.
St. Agatha officials, including Town Manager Michelle Bernier, also attended the meeting and discussed potentially renegotiating the rate its residents pay to Frenchville. And while a specific time was not set, both Cyr and Bernier agreed for the towns to meet and discuss the costs associated with St. Agatha’s share at a later date.
Cyr said that he and town officials are considering two methods of implementing the increase, one in which the rate steadily increases over five years and another in which it increases all at once for the 2025 sewer billing process. Cyr said earlier this month that officials were reluctant to implement the increase all at once.
The board will make this decision during its next meeting on Tuesday, June 3.
