This petition is intended for Tivoli Gardens Condominium owners and renters. Please sign ONLY if you are an owner or renter at Tivoli Gardens Condominium, Tivoli, NY 12583.

We, the undersigned Tivoli Gardens Condominium owners and renters, ask the Dutchess County Water & Wastewater Authority (DCWWA) and the appropriate Village and County officials to address two issues affecting Tivoli water and sewer customers.

1. Replace the 10,000-gallon minimum with billing based on actual usage
Tivoli Gardens customers (a 96-unit condominium development consisting of one- and two-bedroom apartments) are currently charged a minimum water and sewer bill based on 10,000 gallons every quarter.

The current billing structure does not reflect the significant differences in actual water consumption among Tivoli households. A one-bedroom apartment in Tivoli Gardens occupied by one person may use only 4,000 or 6,000 gallons in a quarter—or even no water at all—yet that customer is still billed for the same 10,000-gallon minimum as a single-family home in the Village, resulting in a minimum water and sewer bill of approximately $302 per quarter—a substantial expense regardless of actual consumption.

Why should a small apartment using 5,000 or 6,000 gallons—or even zero gallons—be billed on the same 10,000-gallon minimum as a substantially higher-consumption single-family house?

Most importantly, DCWWA already meters Tivoli's water consumption and charges customers for additional usage when they exceed 10,000 gallons.

If actual metered consumption matters above 10,000 gallons, why shouldn't it matter below 10,000 gallons as well?

A household using 15,000 gallons pays for its additional 5,000 gallons. A household using only 5,000 gallons, however, receives no corresponding reduction and must still pay the 10,000-gallon minimum.

We believe the same principle should apply to everyone: a transparent and reasonable fixed service charge to support the infrastructure we all share, plus charges based on the water each household actually uses.

DCWWA's published 2026 rates show that it uses different billing structures in its other water and sewer systems:

DCWWA System
Tivoli
2026 Water Billing: $135.84 quarterly minimum through 10,000 gallons; higher usage charged at tiered rates
2026 Sewer Billing: $166.86 quarterly minimum through 10,000 gallons; higher usage charged at tiered rates

Dalton Farms
2026 Water Billing: $18.55/month service charge + $7.93 per 1,000 gallons used
2026 Sewer Billing: $26.24/month service charge + $11.93 per 1,000 gallons of metered water usage

Fairways
2026 Water Billing: $54.35/month service charge + $15.02 per 1,000 gallons used
2026 Sewer Billing: $79.13/month flat rate

2. Review the new benefit assessment as it applies to Tivoli Gardens condominiums
We also ask that the new water and sewer benefit assessment be reviewed and that Tivoli residents and property owners be provided with a clear explanation of how benefit units are assigned to individual parcels.

I was informed that the assessment is determined on a parcel-by-parcel basis using a common benefit scale, and that a Tivoli Gardens condominium apartment is assigned the same residential benefit level as a single-family home.

What is the basis for assigning a small Tivoli Gardens apartment the same benefit-unit value as a single-family home?

We recognize that all properties benefiting from Tivoli's water and sewer infrastructure should contribute to necessary system improvements. However, we ask why apartments that differ substantially from single-family homes in size, occupancy, water consumption, and demand on the system are assigned the same residential benefit level.

We respectfully request:
Eliminate Tivoli's mandatory 10,000-gallon quarterly minimum and replace it with a transparent and reasonable fixed service charge plus charges based on actual metered usage.

Review and publicly explain the benefit-unit methodology applied to Tivoli Gardens condominiums, including the basis for assigning these one- and two-bedroom apartment parcels the same residential benefit level as single-family homes, and revise the allocation if the review determines that the current classification does not fairly reflect the benefit attributable to those properties.