Archive: Opinions

Dear Editor,

Thank you for your informative coverage with respect to this important issue.

However, I wonder what the town officials could be thinking of with respect to the sewer issue. Perhaps they will be able to afford these extra charges and taxes. Sad to say, I cannot and I expect that most of the residents earmarked for the first hookup cannot, either.

I moved to South Lansing from Long Island 2 years ago with the hope that, when I retired within 5 to 8 years, I would be able to afford to live in my home for the foreseeable future. Thus, when I learned last November that I needed a new septic tank system in my then 23 year-old home, I was dismayed that the cost would be $6,500 plus at least another $1,000 to replace the lawn damaged by the construction. Yet I paid this amount, hopeful that at least I would not have to worry about any further septic/sewer related expenses for the foreseeable future - in the words of the person who installed it and also the Health Department representative - between 10 and 15 years.

I and other residents have now learned that our homes are targeted to be the first hooked up if the new sewer system is approved. Not only will the hook-up costs be very high, we will not be compensated for a large outlay of money used to recently replace septic systems, where applicable, but we will be burdened with still more taxes.

Having lived through the Southwest Sewer District nightmare on Long Island, where we paid sewer taxes from the day the project was hooked up, whether we were hooked up or not, I also learned over the years the following: Costs never go down; they only go up. So if we are being quoted $800 a year now, rest assured it will be $1,200 a year by the time the actual hookup occurs.

I have only lived in Lansing for two years. Even with the STAR program, my taxes have increased approximately $400 yearly. This is an exorbitant increase. Even on Long Island, tax increases were approximately $150 to $200 per year, and this was for a very large school district which consisted of SIX elementary schools and a separate high school and a separate middle school. How can we in Lansing be expected to pay these huge tax increases and, in addition, pay another $800 - $1,200 a year for sewer taxes?

My bottom line question is, who will benefit from this project? The existing residents will not benefit. This is not Long Island, where people had been literally pumping out the Great South Bay when they pumped their cesspools and the population was so large cesspools could no longer be safely installed due to water quality problems. We do not have these problems here.

Rather, the developers, such as those who are constructing the homes north of Triphammer Terrace, just above our residential area, will benefit. Whomever just purchased the land on the west side of Triphammer Road, opposite Asbury Drive and Horvath Drive, will benefit. Very high cost homes have recently been built and continue to be built in our area. There were no problems with sewer/septic before these newer homes were constructed. The very high cost homes and the people who will buy them are high net worth residents who can easily afford $800+ extra per year in taxes. Those who earn average incomes or those who are on fixed/retirement incomes will suffer terribly and even possibly have to leave their homes earlier than expected, either for low-cost senior housing in Tompkins County or, perhaps, leave the area completely. Another reminder - Tompkins County taxes fund the low-cost senior housing projects so, in effect, we will not just be taxed once for this boondoggle, but indirectly multiple times in other ways as well.

Let's look at the alternative. If we wish the South Lansing area to remain unspoiled, with a minimum amount of development, if the residential and commercial developers wish to put up expensive homes and businesses in our areas, let's explore how THEY can pay for it - through increased taxes to their types of businesses, etc. In this way, the existing residents will not bear the unfair tax burdens.

Lastly, should this project ever come to pass, rather than discriminate against those who have taken care of their property and recently installed new septic systems, why not either eliminate hook-up charges for those who have replaced their septic systems within a certain period of time - say 10 years, or charge a reduced rate based on when a septic system had been replaced? Why not eliminate the 5-year hook up requirement so that those with safe septic systems may continue to use them until it is time for replacement? Why not freeze hook-up costs to these people and not make these residents pay sewer tax until they, in fact, hook up and start to utilize the system?

I hope other residents will let the town officials know how they feel about this issue.

Elisabeth A. Hegarty