From: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-regi...eover-20131217

Residents of West Seneca’s eight water districts are being asked to consider consolidating into a single district to be taken over by the Erie County Water Authority.

There are two separate systems within the town: a direct service area, along the borders of Buffalo and Lackawanna; and eight, lease-managed districts of varying size to the east containing approximately 9,000 dwellings.

In the direct service area, “Erie County owns and operates the system. They pay for any of the repairs that are necessary,” Jason A. Foote, of Clark Patterson Lee, explained during Monday’s Town Board meeting. The town pays a hydrant maintenance fee.

Meanwhile, the town is responsible for all capital improvements in the eight leased districts, where the water authority handles customer service, billing, meter reading and maintenance. The town doesn’t have a Water Department, and has practically no budget nor manpower for its responsibilities.
But a takeover by the Erie County Water Authority would cost approximately $7.5 million. The town has a $400,000 local government efficiency grant to offset planning costs.

For the takeover to happen, the town would have to replace 44,280 feet of old water mains; replace 57 hydrants; and make improvements to water storage tanks, according to Foote.

For homeowners in those eight districts, their total annual cost would increase from $220.00 to $265.41. The $3.20 annual operation and maintenance fee charged by the town would be dropped.

If things were to remain the same, residents could be looking at a total annual cost of $620, some of which would pay for a systematic replacement of water lines.