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The city of Dunkirk evidently didn't like what it got out of a formula for its North County Water District water sale rate.
Meanwhile, the new rate for 2026, which was supposed to be finalized in February, remains on hold.
City Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury reported on the situation at a Common Council Finance Committee meeting last week.
The city uses a formula put together by SUNY Fredonia professor Peter Reinelt to determine the cost per thousand gallons of water sold to the NCWD. "The formula usually tracks the inflation rate pretty close. We expected a 3% raise," Woodbury said.
However, the formula literally offered barely an extra penny. It called for a one-cent hike in the rate.
With Dunkirk desperate for revenue, that news didn't sit well with City Hall.
"It didn't make any sense," Woodbury said. "We wanted to reconvene when (new City Comptroller) Tracy (Smith-Dengler) was on board."
City officials want a fresh look at the complicated algorithms which Reinelt uses for his formula. Woodbury said a cost index of local versus national costs should be established.
North County Water District Chairman Dan Pacos told the OBSERVER he heard a slightly different story. He said Woodbury acknowledged delays due to city accounting staff issues, but told him that Dunkirk did not expect any changes to its rate this year.
Pacos said that if the city wanted to raise its rate more than what Reinelt's formula called for, it would have to renegotiate the formula. "I'd like to uncomplicate that formula," he said. "If they want to change the contract, I'm open to it."
Pacos thinks Reinelt should share more details of his formula, stating that the professor keeps them "pretty close to his chest." Pacos wondered, "If the guy steps off a curb into a bus today, how do we know what the formula is next year?"
Pacos added, "We went three years without a raise once because (former city Treasurer) Mark Woods didn't have his books closed. I'm not going to beg for a raise."
The city of Dunkirk currently charges $5.27 per 1,000 gallons of water that the North County Water District buys from its Lake Shore Drive treatment plant. The district sells the water to consumers in several nearby municipalities -- the towns of Dunkirk, Pomfret, Portland, and Sheridan, and the village of Brocton.
Woodbury added at the Finance Committee meeting that changes to the city's declining block rate for its large, industrial users are another thing Reinelt will be asked to look at.
Dunkirk currently charges large industries less if it reaches certain water usage benchmarks. Councilman-at-large Nick Weiser, who chairs the Finance Committee, has consistently advocated changes to that setup -- in the hopes of adding more revenue to city coffers.
However, Woodbury said, "It's a delicate thing to do. We don't want to hurt the industries. We don't want to hurt the residents, either."