Fredonia village Trustee Jon Espersen is the voice of reason when it comes to a dispute with the town of Pomfret over water fees. From the village’s perspective, it says Pomfret owes it $4,000 a year — or $12,000 over a three-year contract — the town has not yet paid.

As neighboring governments bicker– both have buildings within eyeshot of one another — there have been threats of either legal action or the changing of providers. That issue alone speaks to how desperate we are as communities. A sum of $4,000 a year is a drop in the bucket when talking about municipal budgets of Fredonia and Pomfret. Combined, they total about $15 million.

In the meantime, the tenor of both meetings is a petty us against them attitude that is exactly why it makes no sense to have the two governments for 13,800 residents — many of whom pay taxes to both entities. “We should have never negotiated this contract to where it was,” village Trustee James Lynden said. “I’m surprised the previous board went for that contract, but they were given a very, very low price, which in my opinion is less than the average village pays. And they’re balking at that and it’s a slap in the face to the village. The people need to go to their town board and tell them that they need to pay up.”

For its part, Pomfret is sticking to the terms. “I want the record to be clear – the town is not paying what it feels like paying, we are paying what we agreed to pay when we negotiated these contracts,” said town Supervisor Dan Pacos.

Why Espersen’s stance in this issue is so important is due to his understanding that the two municipalities should be working together, not battling over a minuscule amount of funds. He also understands that threatening legal action, no matter who is right or wrong on the matter, is throwing away money since litigation could cost $25,000.

If this goes further — and we hope it does not — it is another example of our too many governments worrying about finding the loose change while not watching the dollars of those they represent.