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Bills incorrect, inconvenience

The village of Gowanda is very unfriendly to taxpayers. The village was almost two weeks late in sending out their water bills.

Any normal business would have extended the time frame by two weeks to pay the bill. Not the village of Gowanda, they expect the residents to pay the bill giving them only about two weeks, not the normal four weeks.

To add insult to injury, many of the bills are incorrect. I went to the village board meeting Wednesday and tried to ask for the timeframe to be extended by two weeks. The mayor refused my request and threatened to have me removed from the meeting and she also refused to answer any questions in regard to the late – and in some cases incorrect – water bills. Instead she told me and others who were at the meeting that we must fill out a form for each bill we are disputing and turn it into the clerk.

I had been to the clerk’s office earlier in the day to try to get answers in regard to the water bills only to find out she was sick and would not be back into the office until Oct. 19. The bills are due back to the village by Oct. 28 or I will have to pay a late fee. Once I talk to the clerk to get them straightened out, I still have to get them to my tenants giving them only one week instead of the normal four weeks to pay or receive a late fee. So not only would she not listen to reason, she is forcing anyone who pays their bills late to pay a late fee, especially those with multiple water bills. How fair is that?

The form that she wants everyone to fill out that is questioning their water bill is a Public Works Notice of Defect. It is a worksheet that is used to dispatch crews with water problems, not to address incorrect bills.

It’s a shame when taxpayers cannot get answers and are threatened to be removed from meetings because the mayor either will not answer any of the questions I or others have or feels she does not owe us any information.

The reason I left was due to the fact that she would not address the water issue during public participation. Not because she wanted me to leave. I felt my time would be better spent elsewhere as speaking to the board falls on deaf ears.

Janet Vogtli is a Collins resident and town councilwoman.

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