KINGFIELD — Selectmen on Monday night reviewed Saturday’s town meeting figures and learned that the final amount raised and appropriated is better than expected.

Town Clerk Leanna Ross Targett said the budget dropped from last year by nearly $8,990, because the $11,000 wastewater budget should not have been part of the accounting statement.

“You did great this year on the budget,” board Chairwoman Heather Moody told Targett and Administrative Assistant Douglas Marble.

Selectmen continued to wrestle with an overhaul of the town’s wastewater system user fee structure. Marble explained that Steven Levy of Maine Rural Water would advise selectmen on the most equitable increase for each user paying on a quarterly basis.

“The problem is how you apply an increase to your existing rate structure,” Marble told selectmen.

Not all businesses should be charged the same, because their water consumption does not match the ratio of their plumbing fixtures. Residences are charged $45 per quarter, based on an average home with four bedrooms using approximately 360 gallons a day. Homes which have been converted into rental units may have a room with a toilet and sink and are classified as one living unit. Laundromats, restaurants, the Mt. Abram Health Center, and other nonresidential users do not fall into that living unit classification and may be billed on usage rather that a flat fee.

“If you get $15 per user unit, and you’ve got 13 user units at the Herbert Hotel … , you’ve just increased the Herbert by $200 a quarter,” Marble explained.

Selectman Wade Browne asked to have the rate increase decision made soon.

“We really have to have a resolution of some sort,” he said. “We need to get this done.”

Both water and sewer rate schedules involve a minimum charge plus a consumption charge. Charges can be based on the number of sinks, toilets, or drains. Rate setting for municipal wastewater facilities has been handled much differently than water.

The principal difference is that a third party regulator, the Maine Public Utilities Commission, is not involved. The wastewater system budget is $100,000, Town Clerk Leanna Targett said. Ratepayers contribute $48,000 to that total. Any rate increase should take effect by Sept. 1, so selectmen agreed to finalize the increase by Aug. 1 and hold a public hearing.

Selectmen assigned officials and employees to town responsibilities for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. They are:

Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Moody, Vice Chairwoman Mervin Wilson, Treasurer, Deputy Registrar of Voters and Town Clerk Leanna Ross Targett.

Registrar of Voters, Deputy Town Clerk, Deputy Tax Collector, Deputy Treasurer  Erica Bracy.

General Assistance, Wade Browne, Heather Moody, Leanna Ross Targett, Erica Bracy; administrative assistant, code enforcement, plumbing inspector, Douglas Marble; transfer station, Peter Gardner; health officer, Mary Dexter; Budget Committee, Clinton Knapp, Fulton Ryan, Steven Yates; Planning Board, Foster Robinson, Mark Wahl; fair hearings for General Assistance, Donald Tranten.

Public Works Director, Bruce White; wastewater superintendent, Bryan Fitch; fire chief, emergency management, warden and inspector, Charles Twitchell; animal control officer, Mark Savage.