Some folks are balking at a nearly 100 percent rate hike recently approved by Bayview Water and Sewer District.

In response to public outcry, the district board has agreed to hear concerns and justify the new rates at its meeting this afternoon in the Bayview Community Center.

"Everything was done legally. We did what we had to do," said Charles Waller, board chairman.

After holding a sparsely attended hearing over the increase this September, the board voted to enact several increases.

The water base rate, which includes 5,000 gallons, jumped from $11 to $21 per month, Waller said. Usage rose from $1.50 to $1.75 per 1,000 gallons.

The sewer rate increased from $21 to $26 per month.

The hikes were necessary to keep up with the power bill that has escalated 30 percent in the past three years, Waller said.

It will also cover cost of living increases for the district's three employees, he added, and to replenish district reserves that were dipped into for maintenance costs.

"We held off on rate increases as long as we could, because of the economy," Waller said.

But some customers haven't been so understanding, he said.

"We've been accused of embezzlement," among other things, he said. "It's been a mudslinging thing."

He and the board will be happy to set folks straight at the 3:30 meeting today, he added.

But it's too late to change the rates now, he said.

"They're set for the year," he said of the rates that will begin on Jan. 1, 2012.

The only other alternative to raising rates, he added, would have been to levy taxes on every piece of property in the district, which serves about 500.

"I think we'd really see an uproar if that happened," Waller said.