TIMES UNION
Albany, NY
July 18, 2004
District looks to boost cash flow for Sacandaga
Regulators send heftier bills to municipalities, utilities and taxpayers
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer
Many people benefit from Great Sacandaga Lake, a 42-square-mile reservoir that has become an Adirondack playground.
Rustic camps and year-round resort homes dot the 125 miles of shoreline. Hydroelectric power companies earn millions using water released through the Conklingville Dam on the Sacandaga River. And, thanks to the dam, it's been generations since destructive springtime floods caused by the mountains' melting snowpack hit Albany and other communities along the Hudson River.
It costs the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District approximately $6 million a year to maintain the 74-year-old public works project that created and sustains the state's largest reservoir.
Last winter, the cash-strapped district was rebuffed when it tried to quadruple bargain-basement shoreline permit fees charged to about 4,600 private property owners for access to the the lake. Lake residents rose up against the proposal, and the executive director quit.
Now, without that extra $1.6 million, the district needs more cash and has turned to taxpayers in Albany, Troy, Green Island and Rensselaer, as well as from seven hydropower companies and the publicly owned Green Island Power Authority.
Bills for 2004-05 were sent out this month to these legally defined beneficiaries of the reservoir. The charges jumped 20 percent, approximately $600,000 to $3.4 million.
The power companies are responsible for 95 percent of the bill, or approximately $3.1 million, with the rest coming from the local governments. Albany's share, which is the largest, went from $64,000 to $90,000.
The latest levy falls short of what homeowners would have paid if their higher fees had been imposed. But the owners of camps and homes may still see their costs soar if the district follows through on a proposal to include lakeside properties along with the power companies and municipalities as beneficiaries of the lake.
"One of the biggest benefits derived from Great Sacandaga Lake is the creation of 125 miles of shoreline property," according to a July 2003 consultant's report for the district. The report by the Utica firm of Gomez and Sullivan recommended the district calculate the difference between current property values and potential values if the lake did not exist and charge property owners accordingly.
Such a change could shift much of the expense of the reservoir off the power companies and onto both lakeshore property owners and a much larger group of municipalities along the river in Saratoga, Warren, Rennselaer, Albany, Greene and Columbia counties .
"Who can be and who cannot be a beneficiary is a question that hasn't been answered yet," said Robert Foltan, the district's chief engineer and acting secretary/treasurer. "Every one may not agree, but right now it seems fairly straightforward: If you use the water or are protected from it, that property has benefited."
Foltan said the district cut about $500,000 in spending, postponed some maintenance projects, rolled back management raises and spent $200,000 from its reserves to close a budget gap this year created when the shoreline fee increase plan was jettisoned.
The district also operates dams at Old Forge and Sixth Lake on the Black River, which flows from the Adirondacks northwest to Lake Ontario near Watertown.
Not surprisingly, none of the major groups that benefit from the Sacandaga system the power companies, the municipalities or the property owners want to pay more than they now pay to support the district, which is a public benefit corporation. Such a corporation is created by the state to provide a public service.
Shoreline fees haven't changed since 1987. A property owner pays $56 a year for exclusive use of 100 feet of lake frontage; 50 feet costs $48 and 10 feet is $43.
Peter Van Avery, whose family has had a camp in the Batcherville Bridge area for more than 50 years, said owners already are paying high property tax bills as home values around the lake continue to climb.
"Identifying access permit holders as beneficiaries of the reservoir would be equivalent to charging the citizens of Saratoga Springs an assessment because the presence of the (New York Racing Association), another public authority, adds value to their private property," Van Avery said. NYRA owns and operates the thoroughbred track.
Meanwhile, he said, the homeowners are hurt by high water levels, a result of the district holding back more water in reservoir for the benefit of the power companies. The high water allows for a more gradual release of water for use by downriver hydro plants. The consultant's report stated that the power companies generated about $15 million worth of hydroelectricity in 2001.
Last winter, the submerged shoreline froze and caused more than $100,000 in damage to docks and other property, according to Van Avery.
"And the municipalities downriver are getting off pretty cheaply. They are getting a good deal for protection from millions of dollars in flood damage," he said.
Albany "is willing to pay its fair share, but shouldn't have to pay more," city Comptroller Tom Nitido said. "Clearly, the homeowners are paying a minimal fee with a substantial benefit."
The power companies may contest this year's larger bills, said Gavin Donohue, president of the Independent Power Producers of New York State. "A 20 percent increase is quite drastic," he said. "We might look at some measure to appeal this."
The single largest assessment went to Erie Boulevard Hydropower at $1.2 million. Niagara Mohawk was billed about $927,000 and Curtis Palmer Hydroelectric Co. $545,000. The remaining companies New York State Electric & Gas, Fort Miller Associates, Stillwater Hydropartners and Fourth Branch Associates -- were billed about $300,000 combined.