Bill seeks review of regulating district

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The state Legislature has passed a bill calling for a review of operations by the body that regulates Great Sacandaga Lake, to determine its benefits and costs to taxpayers.

The Hudson River Regulating District, created in 1922, was joined with the Black River Regulating District in 1959 to form a combined entity whose mission is controlling flow of the upper Hudson River to prevent spring flooding in places such as Troy.

This is primarily achieved by Great Sacandaga Lake, a 29-milelong man-made reservoir built in the late 1920s and designed to control runoff.

But legislation introduced by state Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R-Halfmoon, and Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, says five counties including Saratoga are forced to pay about $3 mil-

lion annually to the district, without being represented on its board.

“This is a true example of taxation without representation,” the legislators said in a joint statement.

At the same time, many other public and private entities derive benefit from the district without making any contribution, they say.

Robert Leslie, the district’s general counsel, declined comment on the recently-approved legislation, which is awaiting Gov. Andrew Coumo’s signature.

Hudson River-Black River Regulating District expenses are approximately $6.5 million in the Hudson River area and about $3.5 million in the Black River area, Leslie said.

The district is managed by a board appointed by the governor and bills Saratoga, Albany, Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties a proportional share of district operating expenses.

Marchione said this isn’t fair because the counties are statutory beneficiaries, and the actual beneficiaries have changed through the years.

Legislation seeks to ensure that “county taxpayers do not continue to unduly bear the burden of the regulating district,” she said.

The bill, if Cuomo signs it, would require the regulating district to make a review municipalities benefiting from its operations, and operate more efficiently while seeking other funding sources for infrastructure upgrades and repairs. The bill also calls for establishing a standard methodology to determine future property taxation.

At present, county payments are one of the district’s main revenue sources.

The district collects such payments pursuant to a 2013 settlement agreement that expires this year. The assessment paid by the five counties began when a federal court ordered, in 2008, that hydro-electric plants along the Hudson River no longer had to pay their costs.

But this was never meant to be a permanent solution, Marchione and McDonald say.

In addition to county payments, the district also gets funding from the state through hydropower agreements with companies in exchange for use of headwaters for hydroelectricity generation. The smallest source of district revenue comes from Sacandaga Lake access permits.