PORT JERVIS, NY — New sewer fees once again came up in the Port Jervis Common Council meeting on April 27, when several residents spoke against them during the public comments. Wayne Kidney, a landlord, had prepared a statement about the amendment to the original resolution to establish sewer-use fees passed at a previous meeting.

“My position tonight is to request that the March 9, 2015 resolution be repealed or reversed, and that the initial $54 sewer use fee per property be revisited due to an inappropriate partial dispersal of those initial fees to the general fund account rather than to a sewer infrastructure dedicated account in its entirety.”

Kidney also asserted that the amendment should have been on the agenda of a council meeting as an amendment to the local law, requiring a public hearing, instead of being passed in a closed executive council session after a regular meeting.

“The people of this city need stability more than financial disturbance. Stability will contribute to progress for our city. An uncaring exploitation of the ability for young struggling families to survive in this community is a detriment to a brighter future for the City of Port Jervis itself.” He also said, “Nothing becomes more oppressive and unjust than a government that ignores the stability and futures of the people governed.”

The amendment changes the sewer-use fee to be charged for each dwelling, putting pressure on landlords who end up paying the bills, although many of the landlords pass the costs onto their tenants.

Mayor Kelly Decker took up the matter during his comment section of the meeting. He said of new sewer arrangement, “It calls for conservation, and landlords are responsible for that, no matter what.”

He also addressed a proposed change to use meters to calculate water and sewer fees. “If we switch to metering, there’s going to be a three-month gap that we would have that missing income in the city. If you go on our website, that shows exactly what our balances are; we’re basically down to nothing. We have enough to pay one month’s worth of salaries in the city. That’s how bad it is. People think we just have money to spend. It’s really not that way. It’s very difficult, very difficult not to cut the police department, and not to cut other departments. We’re in a transition from full-time jobs to part-time jobs. There’s a real issue that has to be recognized,” Decker said.

He also said using taxes to pay sewer expenses would prevent city residents from getting tax rebate checks this year, because the cost would push the tax rate above the 2% property tax cap imposed by Albany, and residents in municipalities that tax above the 2% limit are not eligible for rebates.

“I understand your disagreement with what we’ve done,” Decker said to Kidney. Decker said the city wanted to make it easier for businesses and seniors, and he wanted to set the rate at a stable rate that potentially will not have to be increased.

Some council members spoke about the fees, explaining that they too are landlords.

Frank Bell said to Kidney, “Wayne, I wasn’t happy with it at all either. But it was a necessary thing. We’ve got to fix the sewers, we’ve got to get money from somewhere. I had to raise my rents. The mayor took a lot of the wind out my sails with some of the information he gave.”

Currently, water rates are charged per apartment, he said, and the charges to Kidney are on a per-apartment basis, so the law was followed.

Council member Stan Siegel suggested that if something comes up in executive session, those present should be advised there might be a vote after the session, and anyone was welcome to wait for it.

Council member Gerard Oney agreed with Siegel, and suggested putting the item on the next meeting’s agenda as well. “I think it’s fair,” he said.