LIMESTONE, Maine — Tim and Sandy McCabe were shocked when they learned recently just how high their water bill will increase next year.
The couple own and operate The Bunker Inn on the Loring Commerce Center’s 3,800-acre campus. As of Jan. 1, they will be expected to pay an estimated $5,340 per quarter to Loring Development Authority for water usage, with each of the four quarters equaling three months. Their current bill is $1,700 per quarter.
“That’s $21,360 per year instead of nearly $7,000 per year, a 300-percent increase for us,” said Tim McCabe, during a Loring Development Authority board meeting Thursday. “It’s a very big deal for a small business.”
The McCabes were two of many business and homeowners who spoke against the sharp rate increases Thursday and what they called a lack of communication from Loring leaders.
Loring Development Authority’s new water and sewer rates became effective October 1 after approval from the Maine Public Utilities Commission, though tenants will not pay those rates until the 2025 billing cycle starts in January.
The new quarterly rates will charge $471.30 for at least 900 cubic feet of water usage, whereas the 2016-era rates charged $40 for a higher range and an additional 40 cents for each additional cubic foot above 1,200, according to the authority’s proposal to the Maine PUC. Other rates will go up based on the size of their home or business’s water meter, according to Loring’s PUC documents.
The increases were necessary because the authority has not updated water rates since 2016, said Loring CEO Jonathan Judkins. Those rates have not kept up with the authority’s expenses for water system maintenance, which currently totals $990,200.
“I think a lot of the sticker shock comes from how we were chronically undercharging in our rates,” said Judkins, who assumed his position in January.
The authority began contracting with the Maine Rural Water Association for water system maintenance after their previous system operator resigned. That change prompted Loring leaders to begin exploring how to update the rate system in April.
The authority’s board approved the new rates in May before sending their proposal to the PUC. Both Loring and PUC leaders approved a 50-percent subsidy so that customers would only need to pay half of their actual rate.
The subsidy will add $500,000 to the authority’s water and sewer expenses, which they are hoping that the next Maine Legislature will agree to subsidize, Judkins said.
But for several Loring-based homeowners, the new rates are still a high price to pay amidst a high cost of living, including for Gail Isabel, who told board members that she expects her bill to jump from $132.80 per quarter to $855 per quarter.
“That’s over $3,200 per year, more than my property taxes,” Isabel said. “It’s very hurtful for seniors on a fixed income. I only make $1,400 per month.”
Isabel and several others said that their only notification of the new water and sewer rates came from sample bills that the authority mailed out this month.
Judkins said that the authority followed all of Maine PUC’s guidelines for notification of a public hearing held on the Loring campus in September about the new rates. They advertised in the local newspaper, on a local TV news station and sent written notices to all tenants.
All tenants who attended the board meeting via Zoom on Thursday said that they did not receive any written or other direct notification of the public hearing. Many also said that they did not receive timely notice of a recent boil water order.
The authority is now collecting all tenant contact information and plans to test a new alert system that will include email blasts and phone calls. They also want more timely website posts, which are handled by contracted web designers, and will post both on social media and more traditional news sources, Judkins said.
Judkins and board members agreed to schedule another public hearing so that Loring tenants can learn more about the new rates.
