Red Hook WatchIndependent Community Resource

How rates are calculated

Rate-funded (user fees, not property tax)

Sewer customers pay a quarterly bill split into two parts: an Operating (O&M) charge per Benefit Unit, and a Capital Charge per EDU to service the EFC bond. One BU is meant to represent about 150 gallons per day of water use. The Board sets the operating rate by dividing what it expects to spend on running the WWTP by the number of billing units, adjusted for an expected fraction of unpaid bills.

The arithmetic

Working from the adopted operating budget to a per-BU quarterly rate. Numbers below come from the FY 26/27adopted budget, FY 24-25 AFR (for the bad-debt buffer), and the Village Treasurer's billing-unit count.

Operating cost (ex-bond)$208,131.18÷ quarters÷ 4÷ Benefit Units÷ 286.19÷ bad-debt buffer÷ (1 − 12.8%)= required quarterly rate$208Currently charged$179Shortfall per BU per quarter$29× 286.19 BUs × 4 quarters = $33,716/yr operating shortfall — filled by interfund transfers from the General Fund.

Per-account allocation

The total operating cost is distributed across billing units. Each property pays the per-BU rate × its assigned number of BUs. The Board has used three different allocation models over time — compare them below.

Pre-2026 fixture-based BU values (mostly 1 BU per account)

Resolution 5-2026 BU values (Feb 2026 update). Capacity-based fractional EDUs (e.g. 0.5 for half-units, 0.76 for shared Knollwood Commons meters). Not strict water-use.

Existing (pre-2026)
254.18 BUs
SF 32.00 · Com 222.18
$186.59/BU/Q (revenue-neutral)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
292.76 BUs
SF 48.50 · Com 244.26
$162.00/BU/Q (revenue-neutral)
Class shifts
SF +51.6%Com +9.9%
Total: +38.58 BU

Illustrative properties

Real properties picked from the distribution to show how each allocation model treats different kinds of customers. All bills are revenue-neutral $/Q.

Light residential (10th percentile water use)
Howe, Bruce
31 E. Market St. · acct 51200 · 16 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
1.00 BU ($187/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
1.00 BU ($162/Q)
Δ/Q
$-25
Median residential
Steerman, James
57 W. Market St. · acct 30300 · 120 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
1.00 BU ($187/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
1.00 BU ($162/Q)
Δ/Q
$-25
Heavy residential (90th percentile)
Church of St. Christopher
7411 S. Broadway · acct 12700 · 217 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
1.00 BU ($187/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
2.00 BU ($324/Q)
Δ/Q
+$137
Largest residential shift (Existing → New)
Borenstine, David
40 E. Market St. · acct 53400 · 515 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
1.00 BU ($187/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
4.00 BU ($648/Q)
Δ/Q
+$461
Small commercial (10th percentile)
Kudla, Phillip
52 E. Market St. · acct 54000 · 32 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
1.00 BU ($187/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
1.00 BU ($162/Q)
Δ/Q
$-25
Median commercial
(unnamed account)
47 W. Market · acct 29400 · 134 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
0.00 BU
New (Resolution 5-2026)
1.00 BU ($162/Q)
Δ/Q
--
Heavy commercial (90th percentile)
(unnamed account)
7496 S Broadway (Yum Yum) · acct 2000 · 492 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
0.00 BU
New (Resolution 5-2026)
3.50 BU ($567/Q)
Δ/Q
--
Largest commercial shift (Existing → New)
Allef Main Street Partners LLC (CVS)
7568 N Broadway · acct 39300 · 119 gpd
Existing (pre-2026)
13.00 BU ($2,426/Q)
New (Resolution 5-2026)
1.00 BU ($162/Q)
Δ/Q
$-2,264

How closely does the Feb 2026 EDU table follow its stated rule?

The Board-adopted methodology assigns BUs as roughly ceil(gpd ÷ 150) with a minimum of 1 BU per active account. Across 165 accounts with usage data:

Conforming
160/165
97% follow the rule exactly
Over-assigned BUs
2
Accounts billed +$972/Q ($3,888/yr) above what the rule prescribes
Under-assigned BUs
3
Accounts billed $-441/Q ($-1,763/yr) below what the rule prescribes

Dollar amounts use the revenue-neutral rate for the NEW model ($162.00/BU/Q). Deviations are against the stated ceil(gpd/150) rule and could indicate either intentional overrides documented elsewhere or data-entry errors that survived adoption. The most extreme single anomaly is acct 74065 (a Village Hall sub-meter): 61 gpd → rule says 1 BU, adopted table assigns 6 BU. Toggle Show anomalies only on the table below to inspect each one.

Per-account impact

Sort:

Existing (pre-2026)New (Resolution 5-2026), revenue-neutral. Negative (green) = property would pay less; positive (red) = property would pay more.

AcctCustomergpdRule BUExisting (pre-2026) BUNew (Resolution 5-2026) BUExisting (pre-2026) $/QNew (Resolution 5-2026) $/QΔ/Q
39300
Allef Main Street Partners LLC (CVS)
7568 N Broadway
119113.001.00$2,426$162$-2,264
28401
Baright Realty (Bliss, Bubby's, 15 W Market)
19 W. Market St.
1659123.0012.00$560$1,944+$1,384
28101
Kittner & Fredricks Corp (Cancuns)
7481-7483 S Broadway (7483)
108881.008.00$187$1,296+$1,109
41700
Rhtel LLC/Baright Realty
7509 N. Broadway
18226.002.00$1,120$324$-796
1000
Baright Realty (Williams)
9-11 E. Market St.
21325.002.00$933$324$-609
1400
(sub-meter)
7 E Market
213.500.50$653$81$-572
42400
Arsam's Inc (Village Diner)
7550 N. Broadway
91279.007.00$1,679$1,134$-545
1700
Baright Realty
3 AUC E. Market St.
96679.007.00$1,679$1,134$-545
39100
North-Salvatore's
64451.505.00$280$810+$530
28800
35 West Market LLC
31-35 W. Market St.
51841.004.00$187$648+$461
53400
Borenstine, David
40 E. Market St.
51541.004.00$187$648+$461
39000
Giannoulis, Anastasios (Mazi's)
7588 N Broadway
32935.003.00$933$486$-447
74001
(sub-meter)
1 E Market
25423.501.50$653$243$-410
28000
Cheng, Kan Kuen
7477-7479 S Broadway
86467.006.00$1,306$972$-334
44500
Borenstine, David
63 E. Market St.
39731.003.00$187$486+$299
400
Lueck, Michael (Charlie O's Bar & Grill)
23 E. Market St.
53645.004.00$933$648$-285
44400
Borenstine, David
59-61 E. Market St.
39634.003.00$746$486$-260
2900
Ayoub, Nabil
7460 S. Broadway
38734.003.00$746$486$-260
29200
Red Hook Holdings LLC
41-43 W. Market St.
21023.002.00$560$324$-236
1200
(sub-meter)
20220.502.00$93$324+$231
501
(sub-meter)
21 E Market
2411.660.50$310$81$-229
74130
Knollwood Commons at Red Hook
28 Reilly Lane
32630.762.28$142$369+$228
38901
Rotger, Scott
7590 N Broadway
75054.006.00$746$972+$226
39201
East/Rear of building
31331.002.50$187$405+$218
39900
Borgo Ventures LLC
7571 Old Post Rd
10212.001.00$373$162$-211

1 BU = 150 gpdin the Village's current convention. Each model's per-BU rate is scaled so total annual O&M revenue stays constant — the comparison shows redistribution only, not a rate increase. Source: data/sources/edu_table_extracted.csv. Calculation: analysis/build_bu_allocation.py.