The Baileyton Board of Mayor and Aldermen met briefly Wednesday evening at Baileyton Town Hall.

The board had no action items listed on its agenda, but did direct Recorder Barbara Tilson to check with the County Water Office in Greeneville to see if that organization might be willing to handle billing of Baileyton's sewer customers.

The action came after Alderman Ken Bailey, Sr., complained that he felt North Greene Utilities, which currently handles billing of Baileyton's sewer customers, was charging the town too much for the service.

The issue first had been raised during the Baileyton Board's September meeting.

During that meeting, Mayor Casteel told the board that the utility district had significantly increased the amount it charges Baileyton for handling the town's sewer billing.

For several years, the utility district has charged Baileyton $250 per month to send sewer bills out along with water bills, he said.

However, the latest bill charged Baileyton at a much higher rate, 10 percent of the gross billing, which this month worked out to $1,469, a 487 percent increase.

"If they (North Greene Utility District) won't reconsider these rates," Mayor Casteel told the board in September, then Baileyton will have to raise its sewer rates by 10 percent to cover the billing charge increase.

The mayor said he had talked to the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts about the increase, and said he was told that the rate the town has been paying up to now was a fair rate, and that 10 percent of the gross total is too high of a charge for billing.