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The Manhasset-Lakeville Water District taxes account for only 25% of our total revenue. The average water tax in Manhasset is about $100 per year, which equates to less than 1% of a typical property tax bill. Nevertheless, the media’s attack on our Special District continues, often filled with half truths and misleading information. Town law sets district election dates, the Town Board approves our budgets, and our operations are governed by New York State. Unlike your Federal, State, and County taxes, your water tax goes directly to support your water system operations and improvements. Do you know where your County, State, and Federal tax dollars go? They become part of the general revenue fund where politicians and special interest groups fight it out for a piece of the pie.

Professional Services

Recently the Nassau County Comptroller has stated that he, along with the State and County District Attorneys, are following up on the investigation into Special Districts that have placed legal or engineering personnel on their payrolls. We, your Board of Commissioners, want to assure you that we do not place anyone providing professional services on our payroll as a District employee.

Every year the Board conducts negotiations with legal and engineering firms to determine the best contract price for the residents of the District. Contracts between the Board of Commissioners and the professional firms we hire to work on behalf of the District are signed yearly.

Commissioners Stipend

Under town law, Water District Commissioners are permitted to receive a yearly stipend for services rendered. The benefits received during their term in office include a salary of $100 per meeting, health and retirement benefits. Not all Commissioners take these benefits due to receiving similar benefits at their full time job. Meetings are regulated to twice a week at a minimum of 90 minutes per meeting, but can go on for several hours. Whether we meet in one daily session or five daily sessions, the salary is $100 for the day. Recently the County Comptroller stated in the local newspapers "Many commissioners meet every morning before going to work. Some even meet on the golf course or at conferences". We want to assure the residents of Manhasset-Lakeville that this does not occur with your Commissioners. Our meetings are held in the district office or, when meeting with officials who represent our residents, in local Village Halls or in Town or State buildings.

When the Commissioners submit their budget to operate the District for the coming year, it includes a budget line for    Commissioners expense. This figure is made public at our budget hearing which we hold every October. The budget is then submitted to the Town Comptroller for town approval. Though we budget a salary to allow for the possibility of meeting five times a week, we rarely meet that frequently. All monies remaining from this section of the budget, as with other budgeted categories, go to an unallocated account fund, which is used to offset the costs of the budget for the following year. In the budget year of 2007, actual Commissioner’s benefits costs were 1.093% of our total budget. For the budget year of 2008, we have allocated 1.63% of the total budget toward your Commissioner’s benefits.

We thank the voters of our Special District (Manhasset-Lakeville Water) for attending our budget hearings and the Town of North Hempstead for recognizing the needs of our residents and approving our District budget.

If you support our District and local governmental control, please take a minute to email our State Senator Craig Johnson and Assembly woman Michelle Schimmel and let them know how you feel.