‘Last-resort measure’ to help residents

Just a over week after state lawmakers proposed legislation aimed at lowering bills for New York American Water customers, Village of Sea Cliff officials have decided to take matters into their own hands. The village filed a lawsuit against the state Public Service Commission last Friday over the approved water rates.
“Despite our discussions with American Water, the Public Service Commission and our pleas to the governor for assistance, nothing has changed,” Mayor Ed Lieberman said. “This legal proceeding was a last-resort measure to protect the people of Sea Cliff.”
During village officials’ meetings with NYAW and the PSC, Lieberman said, he outlined the “catastrophic effects” of the $3.63 million rate increase. “We would like to the see the PSC undo this extreme hardship that’s been created,” he said. “We’re hoping that this lawsuit can bring fairness to our residents, and that we can have the use of a natural resource without becoming a financial hardship and burden.”
“We believe the tax burden that is placed on our company and then directly passed on to customers should be relieved, given that water is an essential of life,” NYAW President Carmen Tierno said. “We have and will continue to work with government officials and our customers to hopefully identify a viable solution to this problem.”
PSC Public Affairs Director James Denn said that while the company was able to cut its requested rate increase of $8.7 million, it could not reduce its property taxes.

“If a municipality puts a property tax on a municipality, then that cost needs to be passed through to the customer,” Denn said. “The PSC doesn’t have the authority to say to the utility, ‘Don’t pay that property tax.’”
As the lawsuit states, the village would like to shift some of its costs to Merrick, which NYAW also services. Denn said that it would be unfair to Merrick ratepayers to pay part of Sea Cliff’s village taxes. Merrick is an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead.
“The commission thought about sharing Sea Cliff’s taxes with Merrick, but they didn’t because they’re not physically connected,” Denn said. “If they’re not physically connected, then why should we put Sea Cliff’s taxes on Merrick? Residents of Merrick certainly wouldn’t like that.”
Denn said the majority of the rate increase was due to local authorities approving tax levies on NYAW. Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy said that municipalities affected by the rate hike could not assess the values of their utilities for taxing purposes, including NYAW.
“To compound the error, NYAW is billing village-owned properties these erroneous surcharges, which are essentially property taxes, despite the village being a tax-exempt entity,” Kennedy said. “This blunder would result in double taxation of Sea Cliff residents.”

Old Brookville chimes in
At a public meeting on Monday night, Old Brookville Mayor Bernard Ryba expressed the village’s concern about NYAW’s rate hike, since it also affects roughly 50 households in that area.
“We’ve been a part of the public meetings with the Glen Head-Glenwood Civic Association, I’ve maintained an active interface with Mayor Lieberman, and I’ve had frequent discussions with the president of American Water,” Ryba said. “I wish I could say more about what can be done on a short-term basis, but we know that our local civics are looking into several solutions.”
Ryba said that he met with Lieberman and North Shore School District Superintendent Dr. Peter Giarrizzo to discuss the lawsuit. He and the village board said they hope it will help customers affected by the rate hike.
“I don’t see any quick fix right now, but we will continue to be a part of the conversations,” Trustee Terry Murphy said.