Will United Water's Rate Increases Drown Local Communities?

Fire hydrants. Sure you've cursed them for blocking prime parking spaces and blessed them for protecting your home and family against destructive fires, but have you ever wondered how much they cost?

If United Water  gets its way, beginning in November, hydrant prices in Bronxville, Tuckahoe and Eastchester, along with several other communities in lower Westchester, would skyrocket, making the hydrants among the most expensive in the country…if not, as Eastchester Town Supervisor Anthony Colavita noted, "the most expensive in the free world." 

Beginning November 1, United Water of New Rochelle, the private water company servicing much of lower Westchester, has proposed to increase rates more than 54 percent over four years to cover, among other expenses, the $100 million spent on infrastructure updates—$68 million of which went directly to the Delaware Interconnection Project in Eastchester.

At a public hearing before the New York Public Service Commission on Monday night, local officials, firefighters and residents denounced the hikes, calling them, "obscene," "unjust" and "out of control"—and implored commissioners to reject United Water's proposal.

Supervisor Colavita, along with Mayor Mary Marvin from Bronxville and Mayor John Fitzpatrick from Tuckahoe were all in attendance and submitted their thoughts in front of Judge Eleanor Stein and Commissioner James Larocca.

"In the town of Eastchester, we have over 400 hydrants. As was indicated earlier, they are more than 500 dollars a piece," said Supervisor Colavita, "To more than double that amount is going to result in a minimum of a 2 percent tax increase right off the bat for the residents of the town of Eastchester."

He continued, "They (United Water) do not maintain fire hydrants in the town of Eastchester. I personally witnessed a house burned to the ground on Blair Road because the fire hydrant right in front of the building was not operational."

Colavita also noted that Westchester Joint Water Works, the water district north of Eastchester, charges $226 per hydrant for maintenance.

But it wasn't only in front of the PSC that the three, along with other local officials, voiced their opinions. A rally was held during the early part of the hearing. There, with signs that read "United Water is drowning us" and charts illustrating fire hydrant maintenance charges, they urged the PSC not to approve the hikes.

"Whenever a rate increase is sought, it is the duty of the PSC, if you will, to perform a 3-prong test and ask: Are the rates customers paying reasonable for the level of service they receive? Is the quality of service adequate? Is the allowed rate of return on the investment fair? When these questions can be answered yes, then utility regulators and utilities are meeting their responsibility to the public they serve," said County Legislator Sheila Marcotte, "When the answer is no, such as it is in this proposed rate increase and this case, then this should not be granted."

In addition to the hydrant fee, the company is calling for a 30 percent increase in water rates, which residents and business owners were less than thrilled to hear.

"I really can't afford anything like this," said Sandra Reyes-Guerra, a Tuckahoe resident who lost her job over a year and a half ago. And Tuckahoe resident Liam Leary, bought his house in the Village 47 years ago, and said it's becoming considerably more difficult to remain in his home.

"We understand these are difficult times for individuals, but we need to raise the rates due to the cost of badly needed infrastructure investments made in the last four year," Steve Goudsmith, a spokesman for United Water said. "And it is important for us to maintain a good rate of return for our investors to continue investing, letting us continue to provide uninterrupted service."

But some say an 11 percent rate of return is a little too generous to their investors.

"This is clearly exorbitant during these financial times," Mary Marvin, mayor of Bronxville said at the hearing.

The nine municipalities who purchase water from United Water of New Rochelle have hired legal counsel to defend themselves to the Public Service Commission against United Water.

"We're looking for two things," George Calvi, Ardsley village manager, said. "The first is to reject the increase in rates. And the second is to have hydrant fees charged as a portion of users' monthly bills."

Under the current plan, the hydrant operations fee is a line item on municipalities' annual budgets. "But that means not-for-profit institutions and organizations, which are tax exempt, don't get charged. We want it changed so all water-users must pay their fair share of the bill," Calvi said.

The Public Service Commission has until early fall to decide whether to approve United Water's joint proposal.

"The PSC will approve, reject or modify the proposal," Anne Dalton, a spokeswoman for the commission said.

But until then, the commission will continue to review verbal testimonies, letters and calls expressing opinions on United Water's joint proposal.