Board to waive late fees while reviewing new monthly water-meter appeals

The Oneonta Code Enforcement Board voted to pause the accrual of additional fees on water and sewer bill appeals while staff adapts to a change in meter-reading equipment that no longer provides daily usage breakdowns.

Why it matters: the change to monthly-only meter reads reduces the technical information available to staff reviewing appeals and could affect how quickly and accurately the town can adjudicate disputed bills.

Board members said the town’s previous meters allowed staff to view daily usage and thus more easily identify anomalies. The board explained that the new reading equipment yields only a single monthly total — the consumption between the previous month and the current month — which gives staff less granular data when assessing appeals. Chair Mercik said the board will waive fees that would otherwise accrue while an appeal is pending, provided the appeal was filed within the 60-day appeal window. Bills in question were mailed in the second week of March, the chair said, and the board expects to start hearing the first of those appeals at its May meeting; the appeals window could extend into May because customers have 60 days to file.

The motion to hold fees while appeals are pending passed by recorded vote with yes votes from Chair Mercik, Commissioner Livermore and Commissioner Bosnick. The board asked staff to collect the recorded-month totals and report back at the next meeting so members can begin hearings with the available data.

Board members said this is a temporary procedure while staff gains experience with the monthly-read data and that they will continue to accept appeals and make determinations at future meetings.