JAY — Selectmen voted Monday to accept a town Sewer Rate Committee’s recommendations and change how rates are calculated.

Currently, the town charges $315 a year for each unit, such as a house.

Selectmen agreed to eliminate the per unit method and calculate sewer rates based on water use beginning July 1.

They set the annual minimum base rate at $250 for 3,200 cubic feet of water used. Any amount over that would cost 5.58 cents per cubic foot.

However, they also agreed to Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt’s request to set a first year cap for the maximum amount a sewer customer will pay based on their 2010-11 sewer bill. For a user who pays $315 annually, the cap would double, or $630, Holt said.

Town Clerk Ronda Palmer said she talked with the computer company who helps set up their programs and they would try to write one that would show users how much their bill would be under the new rate.

Holt said the cap would help customers realize the need to conserve water to reduce their sewer fees, save customers the “first shock” of paying for what they actually use and give people a chance to prepare for the new method and conserve if they want to.

A lot of people don’t realize how much water they use until they get the first bill, Palmer said.

Under the new method, schools and municipal buildings and schools will also be assessed sewer fees. They currently don’t pay sewer fees.

The committee also recommended using the water reading for the winter quarter and multiply it by four to determine the annual sewer use, member Paul Gilbert said.

Holt, Palmer and Town Manager Ruth Cushman will develop a policy to deal with special circumstances, including car washes, laundry businesses, homes without water meters, and people spending the winter in warmer climates.

That policy would be brought before selectmen for approval.

Selectmen also agreed to set the amount of revenue to be raised for the Sewer Department at $356,000, the same as this year. That does not include the estimated $9,500 in revenue that would be brought in through schools and town buildings.

This will give the residents an “apples to apples” comparison of what they were paying under the former billing system compared to the new system, Holt said.

dperry@sunjournal.com