JAY — Trustees of the Jay Village and North Jay water districts will hold separate public hearings Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Jay-Niles Memorial library on proposed rate increases that will go into effect April 1.

The two districts are overseen by separate, elected Boards of Trustees but share Superintendent Mike Wells.

The hearing for the Jay Village Water District will be held at 5 p.m. at the beginning of the Board of Trustees quarterly meeting. The hearing for the North Jay Water District will be held at 6 p.m., also at the beginning of a quarterly meeting.

The new rates had been approved in October 2014 and were expected to be implemented Jan. 1, but have been postponed until April 1 because of a technicality with the approval process, according to letters trustees sent to customers.

The districts each had consultant RHR Smith & Co. audit accounts last year. It was determined that an overall 29.6 percent rate increase implemented over two years is needed to keep the Jay Village Water District viable. An overall 22.5 percent, also divided over two years, is required for the North Jay Water District to maintain viability, according to trustees.

The last rate increase for the North Jay district was Oct. 1, 2006, and the last increase for Jay Village was April 1, 2002.

If the Maine Public Utilities Commission approves the increase, a 14.8 percent increase will go into effect on April 1 for Jay Village and another 14.8 percent increase will go into effect beginning April 1, 2016.

Contingent on PUC approval, the North Jay increase will be 11.25 percent this year and 11.25 on April 1, 2016.

Customers have a right to request information relating to the current and proposed rates before the hearing, according to trustees.

The public advocate and the Public Utilities Commission are available for assistance.

The water districts are a quasi-municipality and not a department of the town of Jay.

Jay Village serves approximately 360 customers and North Jay serves about 250 customers.

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