New Fee Dedicated to Tackle Flooding
by Cindy Goldstein -
A local law originally presented at the July 13th Work Session of the Board of Trustees (BOT) passed unanimously at the September 8th meeting. The law (PLL-P) was almost scuttled when continued questions about the specific uses of the funds as outlined in the draft were raised by Trustees Maria DeRose and Ellen Silver. Ultimately, they joined the majority to vote for the law.
How the Fee Works
As previously reported (see HERE), Village Manager Kathleen Gill explained that the fee will be added to everyone’s water bill from the Westchester Joint Water Works based on water consumption. The BOT has not yet set the fee rate which will take effect on October 1, 2026, but prior estimates indicate a 1% fee would raise $100,000 annually, and more money would be needed for flood mitigation projects.
Gill explained that the Village has been aggressively going after grant money to fund flood mitigation projects, there is almost always a “local match” component to any grant awards. (A local match is when the Village must contribute a percentage of the project cost to receive the grant money.) Gill went on to describe this fee as more equitable because all water users must pay it based on actual water usage. Mayor Sharon Torres described the increasing intensity of local flooding and said that unless the Village can provide a local match, it would miss grant opportunities.
The Difference Between Storm Sewers and Sanitary Sewers
Confusion arose over the term “storm sewer,” with some BOT members and residents not understanding the distinction from “sanitary sewer.” Most parts of the Village have two separate systems: a sanitary sewer (a sealed system to hold human wastewater) and a storm sewer (to gather and convey stormwater). Proposed Local PLL-P clearly describes that this new fee is only for stormwater, and funds would not be used for sanitary sewer or any unrelated expenses.
In the Past Money Not Spent as Required
Over several meetings, BOT members referred to the prior administration's practice of transferring costs (e.g., salaries and wages) to the sewer fund to keep the overall real property tax increase down and indicated they did not want that to happen again. See HERE. The following language (see HERE) is excerpted from the law:
Specific Limiting Language for Use of Fees – Section 282-41
“All revenues generated from flood mitigation and municipal separate storm sewer system rents, including interest and penalties, shall be kept in a separate account….. All such funds….shall be used in accordance with General Municipal Law Section 453… but in no event shall funds be used for any purpose other than flood mitigation and municipal separate storm sewer system maintenance and improvements, and no transfers as well as no budget amendments shall be made to or from the flood mitigation and municipal separate storm sewer system rent fund to or from any other Village of Mamaroneck fund.”
Despite having been on prior agendas (July 13th and August 10th) and discussed, DeRose still asked for more specificity on how the funds raised through this fee would be used. Silver wanted more time to review the law again, but members of the public spoke up, noting how long the BOT has discussed the mosquito problem and that flood victims “had waited long enough.”
After much discussion the law passed 5 – 0.
