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City weighs charging based on water usage
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The days of unlimited water for a flat fee may soon come to an end in Schenectady.
    The Energy Advisory Board has officially recommended that water meters be installed at every house.
    City houses are not metered now; owners pay a flat rate based on the number of fixtures in their house. Commercial properties have water meters already.
    The Energy Advisory Board proposed citywide metering two years ago, but it was not seriously considered by the City Council. At the time, Councilman Mark Blanchfield said it would outrage the public.
    So the board prepared its arguments this time, submitting a fi vepage report.
    Board members noted that most municipalities in the state have residential water metering. New York City was one of the most recent converts — and the change reduced water consumption by 15 percent to 17 percent, the board said.
    Residents are more likely to install low-flow toilets, repair leaks and take other measures if they must pay for every drop of water, board Chairwoman Dana Swalla said.
    Reducing water consumption saves the city money on every step of the water operation, city officials said. Schenectady could pay less for electricity to run the water pumps if it no longer needed to constantly pump water from the aquifer.
    Less water used also means less water treated at the wastewater treatment plant, potentially saving the city a considerable amount of money. The city could also reduce the amount of costly chemicals it needs to treat the water before it is used.
    From an environmental point of view, the change would greatly reduce the energy used — and thus pollution created — by the city’s water pumps. The resulting pollution is the equivalent of what is produced by the city’s entire vehicle fleet, Swalla said.
    Councilman Thomas Della Sala, who heads a committee dedicated to finding innovative ways to save the city money, said he liked the idea.
    “It will save the city an incredible amount of money if we can get metered water and reduce consumption,” he said.
    The amount of money that could be saved was not announced. The cost of installing meters is unknown — the city would have to seek bids. .............>>>>..............>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01102&AppName=1

The city has taxed just about everything but there's one more thing they can tax and that's the air that people breath and the people who run or jog should get taxed more because they use more air.

They continue to tax and refuse to cut spending.

For all of the taxes that are paid in the city, what exactly is it that the residents are getting for their money? Safety? A great school system? Jobs? Businesses? Maintained roads? Where is the outrage? Where is 'their' teaparty?

I remember once there was an uproar and outrage because one of the legislators said that this would happen...

62% of schenectady is WELFARE....government supported.....government fed. And the rest are UNION, also government supported....or visa versa....pick your poison!

what did you expect? Who will vote them out? There's not enough 'sane, independent' people left!

SOS and his horrible rubber stamps will raise every tax and fee-except cut record spending. The water usage tax will be cloaked in phony environmentalism. If it passes-it's coming to Rotterdam next. This battle must be won.

Kvetch Dana Swalla and retired art teacher Tom Della Sala on the same nit wit committee? Love to here the other DEMS hacks Stratton selected. Only in Schenectady.

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Sch’dy should save water to save money

    Schenectady’s water supply, which comes from an underground aquifer, is generally considered to be endless, which is probably why the city never bothered to have its residents install meters and charge them according to how much water they use — as most cities in New York do. But as its citizens’ Energy Advisory Board pointed out in a recommendation to the City Council last week, there’s still much to be gained from changing over to a metered system.
    It’s simple human nature: When people are charged a flat rate for water use, they use more of it. This hypothesis has been borne out repeatedly in municipalities that have changed from such a system to a metered system. In New York City, for example, consumption was reduced by 15 percent to 17 percent when meters were put in.
    Schenectady may not have to worry much about its water supply, but it does have financial problems, and the more water that gets pumped out of its aquifer and treated — both before and after it is used — the more money it costs taxpayers. The pumps use loads of electricity, and treatment involves the purchase of chemicals — and more electricity.
    Running the pumps also causes a ton of air pollution — as much, says the Energy Advisory Board, as the city’s entire fleet of motor vehicles. So getting residents to use less water would not only improve the city’s finances, but its air quality, too.
    Meters aren’t cheap: In Niskayuna, for example, 7,400 of them purchased a year ago cost $1.6 million. The city would probably need at least twice as many, and while the purchased would undoubtedly have to bonded, it would be well worth it if the power and chemical costs could be recovered in just a few years. ...............>>>>.............>>>>...........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00702&AppName=1

What a pile of unadulterated BS. This is just another way to force the home owner to pay more taxes. The water pumps are electric so they really don't pollute only the generating plant that produces the electricity pollutes and that's a very long way from hear so why should the residents of Schenectady pay for it. Just admit that your going to force the residents to pay more taxes and raise the flat rate cost of water a couple of bucks.

Right on Shadow! Tom Della Sala doesn't have the smarts to calculate anything-especially that his political career is finished if he keeps pushing this idiotic idea. He is already on very thin ice.

      I talked to some City Hall insiders and they are all furious about this proposal. It only re-enforces the idea that Stratton and his rubber stamps will tax anything and everything. Gardeners should throw up a strike line around Dela Sala's house.

City users already pay a ton  more than neighboring towns for water.

This is where the liberal socialists and the environmentalists walk lock step together. And the combination ALWAYS ends up costing us a fortune!!

I can't even believe that with this recession, so many out of work, no jobs, crime rampant, taxes the highest in the country.....and yetthey STILL impose more fees and taxes on the people. If this isn't the perfect storm for a revolt,(peaceful) I don't know what is. How much more does our government expect us to take?

The city has no trouble raising the residents taxes but they can't seem to be able to cut spending which is where the real savings would be.

they will never cut spending. That would mean giving up too much for themselves and their leverage for re-election. THAT is all they think about!

Real fury at the DEM rubber stamps last night. Great Mayor Sam Stratton led the fight AGAINST water meters in the 1950's, when he was the only DEM in City government. How times have changed. Now that DEMS control all seats they will bring in the water meters.  

      Another first Joe Allen voted against a grant for Downtown, complaining all the City neighborhoods were going down the toilet. Wake up City sheeple you have nothing to lose but your elected louses. And Gary McCarthy wants to fix the schools? ROTLMAO!!