Water rate to rise
GREENISLAND, N.Y. » Village officials said that for the first time in over a decade, residents of the village will see an increase in its water rate.
Recently, the village Board of Trustees approved an increase of 50 percent in the water rate, effective with the billing of Nov. 1. Officials noted that this is only the eighth rate increase since the village purchased the water system over sixty-five years ago, and it is the first increase in over ten years.
Officials said that an average water bill will be about $144 a quarter now for the average 2,500 cubic feet per 3 months, which comes out to about a $200 a year increase.
Mayor Ellen McNultyRyan said the water rate had to increase this year due to the unforeseen number of water breaks and the failure of one of the water pumps at the plant that have occurred over the past year, as well as the ongoing reduction of water usage by customers that effect sales, and that the Water Department fund has incurred serious and costly debt that will affect rates immediately.
“We had over $100,000 in water main breaks and we’re not done, we still have some that we haven’t fixed yet,” explained McNulty-Ryan.
“In the last fiscal year we put $175,000 into [the water fund from the general fund] and we just can’t keep doing that,” added John McNulty III, the village treasurer. “.... These funds have got to sustain themselves and the only way to do that is to increase the rates.”
The approved 2018-19 village budget is set at $3.5 million and the village tax rate is set at $12.3086 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which is a 2 percent rate increase.
The homeowner impact on the tax rate is $24 on an average home assessed at $100,000.
The total budget is a $122,034 decrease over the current budget. Village officials said the tax rate percentage increase has remained below 4 percent for 14 of the last 15 years.
Residents paying for sewer per quarter remains flat at $37.70 based on 2,500 cubic feet usage for an average household.
“Compared to other like communities in the area, we’re the lowest by far for sewer,” said Sean Ward, executive assistant to McNulty-Ryan.
Even with having to increase the village water rate, McNulty-Ryan said she was pleased with the overall approved budget.
“Considering everything with the way the economy is and everything else, I think we’re doing really good, I mean to only have pennies per thousand increase in the village taxes, I think was pretty good because [things like] health insurance and retirement keep going way up,” said McNulty-Ryan.