Limestone, ME - Water/Sewer Price Hike

The Loring Development Authority’s Tax Hike Scandal:

In the rugged windswept expanse of Aroostook County where the legacy of the Loring Air Force Base still echoes the hard working residents of Limestone Maine are being ambushed by an outrageous assault on their wallets. The Loring Development Authority (LDA), a bloated state created bureaucratic nightmare is reportedly planning to jack up water and sewer rates by an astronomical 3,700%, leaving monthly bills as high as $800. Yes you read that right 3,700%. This isn’t just a tax hike it’s a shakedown of honest Americans already crushed under the weight of Biden’s inflationary economy.

The LDA isn’t some noble steward of the public good. It’s a relic of government overreach established in 1993 to oversee the redevelopment of the former Loring Air Force Base after its closure. For decades it’s operated as a so called “public municipal corporation" dodging accountability while racking up debts and failing to deliver on its promises. And now the LDA is turning to the residents of the old base many of whom are veterans, retirees, and working class families and demanding they foot the bill for its incompetence.

The numbers are staggering. Reports on X have sounded the alarm with residents and observers rightfully outraged at the prospect of monthly bills reaching $800. For context that’s more than many Mainers pay for rent or a mortgage. Imagine being a retiree on a fixed income or a young family barely scraping by only to be hit with a bill that could force you out of your home.

The Bangor Daily News and the Maine Public Utilities Commission provide critical context for this controversy. According to a January 14, 2025, article in the Bangor Daily News, “Regulators decline to halt Loring water rate hike during investigation,” the Maine PUC denied a request to pause a water rate hike at the Loring Commerce Centre despite an ongoing investigation. The article notes that the rate increase would roughly triple current payments with customers paying $471.30 for at least 900 cubic feet of water under the new rates. Lead petitioner Tim McCabe stated that the new rates would increase his water and sewer costs from $7,000 to more than $21,000 annually indicating a significant but not precisely 3,700% increase. The Bangor Daily News confirms the broader trend of substantial rate hikes, highlighting the LDA’s reckless disregard for its constituents [Source: Bangor Daily News, January 14, 2025].

And who’s behind this fiasco? The LDA a body that’s been plagued by controversy for years. Remember when Limestone officials accused the LDA of owing $1.2 million in unpaid public safety bills back in 2023? Or how about the fact that the LDA sold off 450 acres of the base to Green 4 Maine LLC a private developer hoping to wash its hands of responsibility while the town finally started taxing those properties? The LDA’s track record is one of failure, favoritism, and now, flagrant contempt for the people it claims to serve.

The LDA needs to be held accountable not just for this egregious tax hike but for its decades long pattern of incompetence. We demand transparency, where is this money going, and why can’t the LDA manage its own finances without bleeding residents dry? Better yet let’s push for the dissolution of this outdated authority altogether. Private enterprise not government handouts is the key to revitalizing Loring and bringing real jobs back to Limestone.

The clock is ticking. If we don’t act the residents of the old Loring Air Force Base will be crushed under the weight of these obscene bills.

Use the contact details below to call your state representatives flood the LDA with complaints and make your voice heard. This isn’t just about water and sewer rates it’s about defending the American Dream from the clutches of unaccountable bureaucrats.

* State Representatives for Limestone, Maine Limestone falls within House District 2 and Senate District 1 in the Maine Legislature. 

Additional Resources

Bangor Daily News | Regulators decline to halt Loring water rate hike... | Jan 14, 2025
The County | Loring CEO says rate increase necessary to maintain water system | Nov 22, 2024
Bangor Daily News | Maine PUC opens investigations into water rate hikes at... | Nov 11, 2024

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