A group of residents gathered in January 2024 outside a Vassalboro Sanitary District board meeting to protest recent increases to their sewage bills. On Tuesday, a legislative committee will hear testimony on L.D. 832, a bill that would provide funds to reduce the sanitary district’s debt and ease the financial strain of its customers. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel file

VASSALBORO — Residents facing significant sewer bill increases will have a chance to tell their stories Tuesday at a hearing before the state Legislature’s Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology.

State Sen. Richard Bradstreet, R-Kennebec, will present L.D. 832, an Act to Provide Funds to Reduce the Debt of the Vassalboro Sanitary District, a bill he sponsored to try to alleviate the financial strain on both the district and some 200 customers who use it.

“They’re really up against it, especially those on fixed incomes,” Bradstreet said Monday. “There’s nothing they can do. They can’t sell their houses, they can’t sell their land.”

Sewer rates increased significantly because the district needs to pay back more than $3 million in loans to finance an $8 million sewer replacement project mandated in 2015 and completed in 2020. Formerly a quasi-municipal entity, the district in 2017 became privately owned so there are no restrictions on fee increases.

While customers of municipal-run water systems may file price-gouging complaints through Maine’s Public Utilities Commission, there is no governing body to prevent the sewer rate increase other than the sanitary district’s board of trustees.

Since the sewer project’s completion, Vassalboro has sent all of its sewage to Winslow, which in turn sends it to Waterville for treatment. Winslow raised the cost last year for Vassalboro to pump sewage into its system, which Vassalboro officials have previously said is a major driver of rising sewer rates.

Meanwhile, some residents faced liens on their properties from the sanitary district even before they received a notice that their sewer bills would increase 60% because they already had outstanding sewer bills, and some said they will lose their homes because they can’t afford to pay.

Vassalboro resident Megan McDonough, who said she plans to testify before the committee, said 50 sanitary district customers have outstanding liens on their properties, many are on fixed incomes and they are scared. McDonough, who also faces a big increase, said she has gone door to door, talking to neighbors who say they are in terrible situations and fear losing their homes.

“The stories we heard will gut you,” McDonough said Monday. “People are not buying their medicines because they don’t have the money to pay for their daily needs in addition to the sewer bill. People are not flushing their toilets, they’re not taking showers as they used to, they’re not buying food.”

McDonough is a single mother who works two jobs and pays about $400 per quarter for sewer, she said. With the 60% sewer cost increase, it will be about $640 a quarter, at least, which is much higher than the average sewer costs around the state, she said. Her water and sewer are separate.

McDonough has four horses that drink about 10 gallons of water per day. In the past, she said has gone back and forth with the sanitary district to explain that those 10 gallons do not go into the sewer system. She has since started collecting rain water for the horses to drink, has energy efficient appliances and is doing other things to try to decrease her usage because of the cost.

She said one of her neighbors sold his house because he saw the increased sewer bills coming and wanted to get out of town before they increased.

In 2015 when the sanitary district improvements were being discussed, she said she and others were told not to worry — that district customers would not have to bear the burden of the cost which would be borne by grants.

“I never thought this would fall to the 200 customers,” she said, “and I never thought that the price tag would be what it was.”

Sanitary district customers who are poor have no recourse and all they want is a reasonable rate, McDonough said. And they are afraid the state will not help through LD 832 because of the economy.

“It’s our only help — we have no other option,” she said. “It’s going to cripple this community.”

Town officials have tried to help but to a certain extent, their hands are tied. Vassalboro Town Manager Aaron Miller said Monday that he, the select board and ratepayers held discussions with the sanitary district. The town did help the district with tax increment financing money, he said, but it has no authority to force it to reduce its rates.

Town officials also worked with the district to ensure, as a precondition of disbursement of tax increment financing funds, that trustee vacancies will be filled by plurality of  voters within the district. Town officials welcomed district customers to come to the town office to discuss the issue and Miller encouraged them to mobilize to raise awareness.

District trustees did not respond to messages Monday. 

“I know that there are people who have sewer bills that are higher than their real estate tax bills,” Miller said. “It’s just crazy how expensive it is for these people.”

Miller said officials have been discussing other ways that might help alleviate the strain on district customers, as they are on a system that is very expensive. One way would be if an investor or investors come in and buy property, build up the downtown and share the burden those 200 sewer customers carry.

The legislative hearing where Bradstreet will present the bill is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday in Room 211 of the Cross Building in Augusta. It is expected to be one of several bills to be taken up during the afternoon. He said the $2 million in the bill would come from the state’s general fund.

Bradstreet, who also is a member of  Vassalboro’s Budget Committee, said helping the district customers is the right thing to do.

“I think that these people are between a rock and a hard place,” Bradstreet said. “There are programs to help with housing, programs to help with food and other things. There’s really no program for these people. I think money should be available to people in Vassalboro.”