Most-ever Wbg. residents now ignoring water, sewer bills

WARRENSBURG | Non-payment of bills for municipal water and sewer services provided by the town of Warrensburg is at a record high, which is causing financial distress for the local government, the town CEO recently said. This year, the town of Warrensburg has to operate its water and sewer departments for four months without having the $196,425 in arrears that should have been paid, Warrensburg Town Supervisor Kevin Geraghty told the town board members at their Nov. 13 meeting. "This is the most we have ever had going unpaid — we've never before reached this height," Geraghty said. "I'm very concerned about this….if we're not getting the revenue we need, it really hurts us — and this not fair to the residents who pay their bills. We're going to run into financial difficulty if this trend continues." While another town official suggested shutting off water to those residents who don't pay for these services— an action against state health department regulations — Geraghty proposed another way to get people to pay up: publicizing their debts. He announced that he gave the board members a list of the names of those who are delinquent in paying their water and sewer bills and asked town officials to call up the people they knew on the list and urge them to pay up. Also, a board member suggested publicizing the names of those property owners delinquent in paying their bills, perhaps by publishing their names in the local newspaper. Geraghty said that $99,679 in 2024 sewer bills were in arrears, and $96,747 in 2024 water bills remained unpaid, representing 20 percent and 19 percent respectively of the total operating budget of the two municipal services. As is routine, the unpaid sewer rents and water charges are re-levied and will be added to 2025 county tax bills of those who are delinquent — with a 10 percent late fee added. In other business at the Nov. 13 town meeting, the town board: • heard from Geraghty that the former town highway garage on King Street had been razed, but the cleanup from the demolition wasn't complete as there was a tank of waste oil and other substances on the property that had to be removed first, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation was aware of the situation; • appointed Teresa Coughlin to a five-year term on the town's Zoning Board of Appeals starting Jan. 1; • were informed that progress was being made on remediating the stormwater backups on Gold Avenue, as there will be a bid opening Dec. 4 for the project of reconstructing storm sewer infrastructure there; • voted to grant $1,318 in occupancy tax revenue to the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce for expenses incurred by sponsoring the 2024 World's Largest Garage Sale event; • were told that Paul Gilchrist of the Warrensburgh Historical Society was going to erect two informational signs at the sites of the former shoe peg and the "sash and blind" factories located beside the Schroon River at the site of the town park on River Street across from Curtis Lumber where the Warrensburgh Farmers Market was held for many years; • were asked to consider having the state designate Warrensburg as a "Pro-Housing" community; and • reappointed Suzanne Tyler to an additional five-year term on the Warrensburg Planning Board.

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Most-ever Wbg. residents now ignoring water, sewer bills

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