BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Water Authority customers are seeing a new quarterly "Infrastructure Improvement Charge" on their water bills as the city embarks on a $400 million, six-year plan to fix its aging water system.
Diane Makey, a Buffalo resident, discovered the mysterious fee on her latest bill.
"Well, there's a new fee for $15 on the bill. It starts with a Q, whatever that is, and I had no idea what it was," Makey said.
The Buffalo Water Authority has raised water bills by 7.5% and added the new quarterly fee to help offset the costs of the massive infrastructure overhaul. The timing comes as the city has experienced major water main breaks this winter, including one at Military and Hertel last week.
"It's been going up steadily, and I'm a one-person house," Makey said.
Deputy Mayor Benjamin Swanekamp says the investment is critically needed, especially considering federal requirements.
"If you look at the infrastructure plus the cost of the federal lead copper rule, it'd be over a billion dollars. I've heard $1.3 billion," Swanekamp said.
WATCH: Buffalo water customers face new fee as city tackles aging infrastructure crisis
The infrastructure challenges aren't unique to Buffalo.
"It's critically needed and it's not just City of Buffalo, it's all over America, especially the Northeast," Swanekamp said. "We have old cities with aging infrastructure, a lot of which was built from 1936 and beyond."
Greg Rabb, former Jamestown City Council president who teaches urban planning at SUNY Buffalo State, explained the broader challenge facing older cities.
"It's aging infrastructure. Stuff was built so long ago. It was put in before I was born, so now we're talking really old," Rabb said.
Rabb says cities must make difficult decisions to gradually raise taxes to keep up with infrastructure costs, which he said he had to do while in office.
"And people would say to me, why did you do that? I said, well, you tell me one thing in your personal budget that you got reduced and I'll stop raising taxes," Rabb said.
While Makey understands improvements are necessary, she wishes the city and water authority had been more proactive.
"So their immediate answer is, oh, we're in this big situation, let's put it on the residents' backs?" Makey said.
The Buffalo Water Authority says residents will face an average increase of $96 per year on their bills. Options for low-income and senior residents are available.
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