Senator Saland's Legislation To Allow Wappinger Water Consolidation Signed By Governor

Senator Steve Saland (R-C Poughkeepsie), today announced that the Governor has signed his legislation which would authorize the Town of Wappinger to consolidate several contiguous water districts and improvement areas into one large water district.

Recently, local officials from the Town of Wappinger requested the legislation to allow the town to have all the water districts and improvement areas which are hydraulically connected, converted into a large water district.

The Town of Wappinger presently has a total of 12 water districts and/or Improvement Areas providing water service to town properties. All of the Improvement Areas and districts are physically interconnected except for Watchhill Water District, Tall Trees Improvement Area and Fleetwood Water District. By converting and consolidating all the Districts and Improvement Areas into one large district, it would greatly simplify the administration of water service within the Town, eliminating the costly expense of forming an Improvement Area every time a capital improvement is needed.

"Local governments are limited in their ability to raise new revenues, and as costs for providing municipal services continue to rise, more pressure is being placed on local property taxpayers," said Senator Saland. "This legislation gives the Town Board the opportunity after a public hearing, to adopt a flexible financing mechanism most appropriate to proposed projects. Sharing costs to maintain or even improve services by consolidating all the District and Improvement Areas into one large district can provide the Town with the ability to control expenses, while still providing safe, drinkable water to the residents of Wappingers."