December 14, 2021 |
The Town of Saratoga has long been a popular haven for snowbirds. Not only did a summer home in the sunny Wyoming valley provide a welcome income tax break for the wealthy, the fair-weather folks could skip their water bills during the long winter here. The chummy relationship between Town Hall and the snowbirds meant year-round residents carried extra weight to maintain the town’s water and sewer system year-round. The lack of buy-in by the part-timers meant the town’s revenues lagged behind the real cost of maintaining the system.
The free ride ended recently. The town began charging the basic monthly rate for everyone, including wealthy snow birds, whose properties are connected to water and sewer even though the owners may not use the service for extended periods — or at all in some cases.
The topic came up during a discussion at last week’s Joint Power Water and Sewer Board meeting. Town Clerk Marie Christen sought clarity from the board on how to handle accounts that have properties where a meter exists, but they have not been using water.
Not everyone is happy about the new billing practice. Nor is every name on the spreadsheet the clerk brought to the meeting a wealthy snowbird. Some properties are connected to the water and sewer system, even though the service goes unused for any number of different reasons. The lot might be empty or has only a shop. The clerk’s list contained about 20 properties that are metered but are not using water. They’re about to be billed.
The base rate of the minimum monthly water bill with sewer service is $62.40. Town ordinance states that the base rate, shall be assessed for all properties unless no water tap exists the property, in which case no minimum monthly fee shall be assessed.
Councilman Jon Nelson explained the logic behind the legalese of the ordinance. Nelson said the base rate is a shared cost that underwrites the fixed overhead of operating the system no matter how much water residents use — or don’t use — in any given month.
Nelson said everyone who is hooked into the system — tapped and metered — should pay their fair share to maintain the system whether they’re taking advantage of it or not in any given month.
The discussion then moved to a series of “what if” situations. Perhaps someone wants to disconnect from the system altogether and forgo access to water and sewer to a property. The answer is not so clear. Town code also is silent about charging a fee for removing an existing water meter from a pit or capping the sewer connection at the request of a resident who does not want to forgo the opportunity of service and not pay the monthly fee. Board chair Richard Raymer said an amendment would have to be made to the town ordinance to address the situation.
The details of how much to charge for removing the services would be included in any future amendment regarding the issue. A tap fee would be charged if a property owner decided to reconnect or if the property was sold and the new owner wanted the utility service.
The town clerk added another wrinkle to the issue. Research at Town Hall into past billing practices has reveled that some properties have been hooked to the system and metered, but are not receiving the monthly bill. In some cases, the property owners have died, but not all. Board Chair Raymer noted that the ordinance is clear, metered properties must be billed whether they are using water or not.
The Joint Water and Sewer Board owns the system’s infrastructure, including the water mains and the meters. The board with will hold a workshop in January to discuss an amendment to the town ordinance to address a fee for removing water and sewer service from a property.
Pictured above: File photo of Saratoga Town Hall. Photo by Emma Diercks/Bigfoot 99.
