Water rates going up for out-of-village property owners

Billing increase undetected in system Warwick—Let’s just say there is good news and bad news for those few Town of Warwick residents who tap in to the Village of Warwick’s water system. The good news is that even though the rates more than doubled two years ago, a glitch in the village system didn’t catch the increase and you were billed at the old rate for the past two years. Now for the bad news: The glitch is gone and the water rate just went up, way up. During budget time in 2005, the village decided to raise the water rates for those outside of the village from $5.15 per thousand gallons to $10.52 per 1,000 gallons. This was done in part because out-of-village residents do not pay the village the land tax that village residents pay. The tax is used for capital improvements to the water system. Since the homes are not in the village, the village is not allowed to tax them. So, those outside of the village are not contributing to the upkeep of and improvements to the system. The tax was put on paper, but then never billed. That’s not the case now. Since the new budget cycle in June, residents outside of the village are being charged $10.52. In addition, the village will impose a fee of $14 per $1,000 of land value, based on the town’s assessment of their property, for any capital projects funded by bonds. This fee will only be charged when there are capital projects, Mayor Michael Newhard said Monday night. Right now, there are none, so no charges will be levied on these property owners. The village’s accountant, Michael Vernieri, assessed the costs to village residents and those outside of the village and made recommendations to the Village Board. He recommended that out-of-village water users pay a minimum of twice the rate of village users. He also recommended the $14 fee per $1,000 of land value be charged for capital projects. Village residential property owners currently pay $2.96 per thousand gallons. In addition, they are currently paying $3.21 per $1,000 of assessed land value for this final year of paying for improvements to the water system. They paid $9.85 per $1,000 in fiscal year 2004-2005, $9.06 per $1,000 the following year, and $8.75 per $1,000 last year. As the debt decreases, so does the amount paid by residents. Phil and Ellie Nye, along with their neighbors, Louise Couser Simpson and Gene Frawley, came to talk to the Village Board Monday night about the water situation. They are three of the 14 households along Kings Highway that have tapped into the village water system for many years and are the only residential users, besides the Pioneer Farm and the MacFarlane Farm. The school district down West Street, St. Stephen’s Church, and the Warwick Fire Department are other out-of-village users. Phil Nye said that more than doubling the previous water rate is a bit tough on the homeowners. “Putting this on 14 households to balance a budget is a little heavy,” said Nye. “It also cost us $22,000 to replace that pipe a few years ago.” The homeowners did indeed replace that pipe about a dozen years ago and in the 1980s. The village cannot take over that pipe because it sits under town property. The pipes going to the school district and church are also maintained by those entities. “We are the only town residents that have to provide our own pipe,” said Simpson. Michael Meth, the village’s attorney, said that the way the previous rates were set simply were not equitable. Village users were paying more than the town users. “It was not equitable because you were paying less than the village residents,” said Meth. “You can go to the Town Board to start a water district. That’s a potential solution. But this is the only solution by the village.” Newhard said he felt the solution was fair, but invited the neighbors to come to the budget meetings in the spring to reassess the situation. “At the end of the day, it is relatively even,” he said, “but it is a painful pill this year.”