GUILDERLAND — The town has increased summer water rates for perhaps 200 to 300 homes out of over 10,000 in Guilderland.

Those few households are using five or six times the water a typical home would use, Supervisor Peter Barber told the town board at its Feb. 15 meeting. 

“Everybody else is subsidizing these overages,” he said.

Board member Christine Napierski, who had toured the town’s water plant earlier in the day, said that other incentives had not been effective because the penalties are so minor.

“The high end water usage rates will affect the people who excessively water their lawns,” wrote Bill Bremigen, assistant superintendent of Water and Wastewater Management, in a Feb. 3 memo to Barber.

The water and sewer permit fees have remained stagnant for years, Bremigen wrote, adding, “We actually lose money if you calculate the amount of administration and inspection hours involved.”

He also said that the costs Guilderland pays to Albany and Rotterdam for water needed during the summer keep rising.

Guilderland uses a tiered system to bill residents for water use, with different rates for summer and winter.

The summer rates will remain unchanged for the lowest two out of four tiers of use:

— Residents using zero to 35,000 gallons of water pay a flat fee of $45; and

— Residents using 30,001 to 60,000 gallons of water add an additional $2.50 per $1,000 gallons.

The top two tiers have an increase in summer rates:

— Residents using 60,001 to 120,000 gallons of water will add an additional $4.50 per 1,000 gallons; and

— Residents using over 120,000 will add an additional $5.50 per 1,000 gallons.

The three-tiered winter rates remain the same:

— Residents using zero to 35,000 gallons of water pay a flat fee of $45;

— Residents using 30,001 to 60,000 gallons of water add an additional $2.00 per $1,000 gallons; and

— Residents using 60,001 gallons of water and up add an additional $2.50 per $1,000 gallons.

Other business

In other business at its Feb. 15 meeting, the Guilderland Town Board:

— Authorized Barber to sign a two-year agreement with the town of Colonie that allows Guilderland Police to train at Colonie’s range; and

— Heard a concern from Robyn Gray that residents are no longer mailed reports on town water safety; she suggested the reports be prominently posted on the town’s website.

Barber responded that, if there are problems, notification is mailed out with the water bill.