Sewer service charges for customers of the Kennebunk Sewer District are generally set following a Rate Hearing held in February or March of each year. The total user fee charge is comprised of three parts for residential and commercial full service accounts. The first portion is collected for debt retirement of bonds issued from time to time by the District to finance capital projects. The second is named Support Systems and pays for the fixed operation and maintenance items in each yearly budget. Items such as insurance, building maintenance and repair, and vehicle expenses to name a few. The final part of the user fee bill is entitled Variable Operation and Maintenance Charges. Expenses such as chemicals, a portion of electrical usage and manpower as well as biosolid disposal are some budget items financed by variable O&M charges.
Below is a brief explanation of how the District’s Sewer Service Charges are assessed for Residential and Commercial accounts.
Residential Customers
For each residential user those charges will be $197.66 per residential user for Debt Retirement charges, $374.62 per residential user for Support System charges and $.02847 per cubic foot of water used for Variable Operation and Maintenance charges. The number of “users” for each residential account is determined by the number of living units served by that account. Thus, a duplex apartment is counted as two users. Vacant lots will be charged $1.30 per foot of frontage. Ready to serve customers will be charged $197.66 for Debt Retirement charges
Commercial Customers
For each commercial unit (one unit for each 12,000 cubic feet of water used – with a minimum of 1 unit) those charges will be $197.66 per commercial unit for Debt Retirement charges, $374.62 per commercial unit for Support System charges and $0.02847 per cubic foot of water used for Variable Operation and Maintenance charges.
Equity Buy In Fees
Equity Buy-In Fees are one time charges for new construction or changes of use that result in more wastewater discharged to the public sewer. Fees collected are used to pay for the cost of capital improvements to the wastewater treatment facility and collection systems. Rates for single family homes or Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) are set at 250 gallons per day, which amounts to a one time fee of $4,423.
Collection Systems Impact Fee
Annually, the Board reviews the need to adjust the base Collection System Impact Fee charges. For 2019, the Trustees will propose to increase the base charges by 2.8% to match the increase in the Construction Cost Index as published by the Engineering News Record. Starting 2019, the Collection System Impact charges for Route One South and Route One North was discontinued. Funds are placed in separate accounts and will be dedicated towards improvements in each specific collection system necessitated by growth. Currently there is Collection System Impact Fees set for the Turnpike Industrial Zone areas. A summary of the 2018 Impact Fees and the proposed 2019 Impact Fees are presented below.
Collection System Impact Fees 2018 Cost Per Gallon 2019 Cost Per Gallon
Turnpike Impact Fee $ 9.80 $ 10.07
You can find more information about rates and fees on our Rules & Regulations page.