RESOLUTION TO RELEVY UNPAID UTILITY BILLS & PROPERTY MAINTENANCE
One-time (complete)formal_resolutionone_timeThe Village Board relevies 37 delinquent utility accounts (water and sewer) totaling $12,183.23 from January-December 2024 onto the 2025-2026 village taxes, with a deadline of April 22, 2025 for payment before relevy.
First seen
2025-04-24
Latest event
2025-04-24
adopted
Expires
—
Resolution text
RESOLVED
- that no further payments will be accepted after April 22, 2025, and any and all unpaid utility accounts and property maintenance (snow removal) will be relevied onto the 2025-2026 Village taxes
Show preamble — 3 WHEREAS clauses
- WHEREAS, the Village of Red Hook has 37 delinquent utility (water & sewer) accounts totaling $12,183.23 ($8,787.92 [water] and $3,395.31 [sewer]) remaining unpaid, including late fees, from the January 2024 to December 2024 Utility Billings
- WHEREAS, Resolution 4 of 2022 affirms reimbursement for snow removal by the Village at the rate of $2.00 per linear foot if a property owner/occupant neglects to clear the adjoining sidewalk within 24 hours after a snow/ice storm as per Village Code §165-1
- WHEREAS, there was no qualifying snow removal by the Village of Red Hook during the 2024-2025 winter season
Legal analysisissues for consideration
Computer-generated analysis using NY State statutes and OSC guidance. Not legal advice. Frames concerns as questions, not pronouncements. Trustees and counsel make the call.
The most important issues for this resolution are: (1) whether the Village has followed the precise statutory procedural pathway — under Village Law §11-1128 and §14-1412 and applicable RPTL provisions — for certifying delinquent utility charges to the tax roll, including required notice to account holders; and (2) whether the April 22, 2025 payment deadline, which predates the April 24, 2025 adoption of this resolution, creates any legal vulnerability for affected property owners who may not have had formal board-authorized notice of that cutoff. A secondary, lower-stakes issue is the bundling of snow removal authority language into a utility relevy resolution where no snow removal charges are actually being relevied, which may create unnecessary ambiguity. Procedural record-keeping is otherwise adequate.
mediumStatute
Consider whether the Village has explicit statutory authority to relevy delinquent water and sewer charges onto village taxes, and whether the correct procedural pathway under Village Law and Real Property Tax Law has been followed.
The relevy of unpaid utility charges onto real property taxes is a significant enforcement mechanism. Village Law §11-1128 (water rents and liens) and §14-1412 (sewer rents) generally authorize villages to collect unpaid utility charges as tax liens or by adding them to the tax roll, but the specific procedural requirements — including notice to property owners, lien filing, and certification to the tax roll — vary by section and must be strictly followed. The resolution does not recite the specific statutory authority under which the relevy is being conducted. Counsel should confirm that the correct Village Law sections have been satisfied and that the relevy amount has been properly certified to the assessor or tax-collecting officer as required.
mediumStatute
Consider whether adequate notice was provided to the 37 delinquent account holders prior to the April 22, 2025 payment deadline and relevy, as due process and relevant Village Law provisions may require.
Relevying unpaid charges onto property taxes constitutes an enforcement action that may affect property owners' rights. Village Law provisions governing water and sewer rents typically require notice to the property owner or occupant before charges are added to the tax roll. The resolution recites a single deadline date (April 22, 2025) but does not describe what notice was provided, to whom, by what method, or when. The Board should confirm that the Village's notice procedures comply with applicable Village Law sections and any relevant provisions of the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) governing tax lien certification.
lowStatute
Consider whether the April 22, 2025 payment deadline precedes or postdates the adoption of this resolution on April 24, 2025, which may affect whether the deadline was legally effective.
The resolution states that 'no further payments will be accepted after April 22, 2025,' yet the resolution itself was not adopted until April 24, 2025. If the cutoff date predates the resolution's formal adoption, it raises a question about whether affected property owners had adequate legal notice of the deadline prior to its passing. The Board and counsel should consider whether this sequencing creates any procedural vulnerability, particularly if a property owner attempted to pay between April 22 and April 24, or if notice of the April 22 deadline was issued only by prior administrative action rather than by board resolution.
VIL §4-412 · source ↗
lowStatute
Consider whether the inclusion of a snow-removal reimbursement clause in a utility relevy resolution is procedurally appropriate, or whether it should be addressed in a separate action.
The resolution's second and third WHEREAS clauses reference Resolution 4 of 2022 and Village Code §165-1 regarding snow removal charges at $2.00 per linear foot, and then note that no qualifying snow removal occurred in the 2024-2025 season. However, the RESOLVED clause bundles both utility accounts and property maintenance (snow removal) into a single relevy action. Since no snow removal charges are apparently being relevied this year (given the 'no qualifying snow removal' finding), the inclusion of this language is arguably harmless but could create ambiguity about the scope of the relevy action. Counsel may wish to confirm whether the $12,183.23 total is exclusively utility charges and whether the snow removal authority reference serves a necessary legal purpose in this resolution.
Village Code §165-1
lowOSC Guidance
Consider whether the Village's internal controls over billed receivables and the utility billing collection process align with OSC guidance on user charge receivables.
The OSC Practice of Internal Controls guide (Section 4, 'Billed Receivables — User Charges') addresses controls over the billing, collection, and follow-up of user charges such as water and sewer fees. The existence of 37 delinquent accounts totaling over $12,000 from a single billing year is not unusual, but the Board may wish to confirm that the Village has adequate controls over the identification, aging, and collection of delinquent utility receivables before they reach the relevy stage — including segregation of duties between billing and collection functions. This is a best-practice observation rather than a finding.
OSC LGMG: The Practice of Internal Controls — Section 4: Billed Receivables — User Charges · source ↗
“Billed Receivables - User Charges”
lowProcedure
The resolution records a mover, seconder, and unanimous vote, but does not document any discussion regarding the list of delinquent accounts or the verification of amounts; consider whether the record reflects adequate deliberation on a resolution affecting 37 property owners.
A relevy resolution directly affects the tax obligations of 37 identified property owners and involves a certified dollar amount ($12,183.23). While unanimous passage and proper mover/seconder recording satisfy basic procedural requirements, best practice suggests that the minutes should reflect some level of deliberation — for example, confirmation that the account list was reviewed, that the amounts were verified by the Village Treasurer or Clerk, and that the April 22 deadline had been communicated to account holders. The absence of any such recitation in the record is a low-level documentation gap that counsel may wish to address in the meeting minutes.
VIL §4-414 · source ↗
Analysis provenance
- Prompt
- legal_analysis_v1
- Model
- claude-sonnet-4-6
- Generated
- 2026-04-29T10:28:49+00:00
- Prompt hash
- a4a9c2b72623ad77
- Corpus hash
- add22d4dd34c41d2 (950 entries)
Document references
Cites or incorporates
- 2025-05-08Utility Billing Report — April 2025
- 2025-12-08Resolution to Increase the Snow Removal Fee and Add a Salting Fee
- 2026-01-12Resolution to Revise the Snow Removal and Salting Fee Schedule
- 2026-01-08Resolution to Revise the Snow Removal and Salting Fee Schedule
- 2025-05-12Utility Billing Report — Water/Sewer Department — April 2025
- 2026-04-29Resolution to Relevy Unpaid Utility Bills & Property Maintenance
Lifecycle (1 event)
2025-04-24adoptedvote: unanimous
Relevy unpaid utility bills and property maintenance charges totaling $12,183.23 onto the 2025-2026 village taxes.
moved by Bradley-Rickard · seconded by Uku
Show text snapshot for this event
Resolved
- that no further payments will be accepted after April 22, 2025, and any and all unpaid utility accounts and property maintenance (snow removal) will be relevied onto the 2025-2026 Village taxes
Whereas
- WHEREAS, the Village of Red Hook has 37 delinquent utility (water & sewer) accounts totaling $12,183.23 ($8,787.92 [water] and $3,395.31 [sewer]) remaining unpaid, including late fees, from the January 2024 to December 2024 Utility Billings
- WHEREAS, Resolution 4 of 2022 affirms reimbursement for snow removal by the Village at the rate of $2.00 per linear foot if a property owner/occupant neglects to clear the adjoining sidewalk within 24 hours after a snow/ice storm as per Village Code §165-1
- WHEREAS, there was no qualifying snow removal by the Village of Red Hook during the 2024-2025 winter season
Subject key:
delinquent_utility_relevy