Niskayuna officials field questions about higher water bills

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

Niskayuna town officials are being deluged with phone calls and inquiries after residential water bills went out this week, many markedly higher than the last bill and at least one residential bill topping $2,000.

Town officials say they are taking names and numbers of residents and will call everyone back with explanations of how the individual dollar amounts came to be.

The bills come as the town works to finish its new water meter project throughout the town. Workers have been systematically installing new meters in homes, replacing old meters in favor of new ones that can be read from the street.

The project, which was to cost as much as $1.6 million, has been ongoing since 2009, but the new six-month bill is the first where the new meters are affecting the bills.

With the installation of new meters, some residents are being caught up for past usage, with the meters being physically read by the contractors.

The old system required residents to read the meters themselves and send in cards. Town Superintendent of Water and Sewer Richard Pollock said there could be several reasons why the readings were behind, including the cards being lost or late arriving to the town.

But the full explanations are expected to be more complicated than that, with a dry summer 2010 factoring in and comparing the right billing cycles.

“There’s a lot of different scenarios that could be happening out there,” Town Supervisor Joe Landry said Friday. “We’re getting phone calls. We’re trying to handle each phone call the best we can and we’re having to get back to some people.”

Pollock Friday afternoon was working on a post for the town’s website to explain common questions.

Among those heading to Town Hall Friday was town resident Fritz Lange. He brought his bill with him, which showed a previous payment for Jan. 1 to June 30, 2010, of just $40 for the house he lives in with his wife.

The new bill, for July 1 to Dec. 31, hit $283. Lange said he wanted to know why. He also questioned the accuracy.

“What am I doing, paying for the block?” Lange said after speaking with town employees.

Lange believed it was a mistake.

Calling Town Hall Friday was a Brendan Lane resident who lives in a home with her husband and three children. She asked that her name not be used.

She said she previously received bills of $200. Her new bill came in at 10 times that at $2,049.

She’s waiting to hear an explanation. She said she got her call returned with a message that the town would be looking into it.

She also said the information that came with the bill was lacking in explanation.

Her new water meter, she said, went in March 1, after the Dec. 31 end of the billing cycle.

The contractor installing it didn’t show her the old meter reading or confirm where the new one began, she said. He had her sign a piece of paper.

Landry earlier described to The Daily Gazette a system where contractors confirmed with the homeowner the old and new readings during meter installation.

“If that’s what they’ll try to have us owe every six months, I’ll be putting a for-sale sign in front of my house,” she said.

For those larger bills, those for over $500, the town is prepared to enter into payment plans, Landry said.

The next billing this fall, town officials said, should have similar issues, as the remainder of the new meters are installed. By March they were about 80 percent complete.

Another explanation for the larger bills is that the previous bills covered the January to June period, which isn’t a good comparison for the July to December period. During the later period, which includes the heat of the summer, typically more water is used.

Pollock said the bills have also gone the other way, with some residents even getting credits for overpayment.