Property owners in Scarsdale may soon be paying a new sewer fee to pay for upkeep of the sewage system in the village. “We are one of the few communities in Westchester that doesn’t have a sanitary sewer fee,” said Village Manager Alfred A. Gatta.
The Village Board of Trustees has set a public hearing on the proposed fee for 8 p.m. March 12 at Village Hall, 1001 Post Road in Scarsdale.
Gatta said the cost will be 30 cents per unit of water. A unit is 749 gallons. The average homeowner will pay an extra $15 on the quarterly water bill, adding up to an extra $60 a year. The village currently spends $300,000 a year to maintain and repair its sewer lines, which flow into Westchester County’s pipes and sewage treatment plants, eventually ending up in Long Island Sound. “We have 85 miles of sanitary sewer that needs constant repair and replacements, including valve changes,” Gatta said.
The new fee, if passed into law, will raise $400,000 in 2013, which means the village can complete more thorough repairs next year to comply with federal and state regulations, Gatta said. “We have to be sure our collection system doesn’t take on any extraneous water. It should only take on sewer water. The treatment plants are running at capacity and rainwater seeps in there and fills up the treatment plants.”
