In a move that would surely come as no surprise to many folks in Genesee County, the United States Department of Agriculture has declared the county as a drought disaster area, qualifying farm operations for emergency loans to recover from any drought-related losses.
The natural disaster designation allows the USDA’s Farm Service Agency to extend “much-needed emergency credit” to agricultural producers. Loans can be used to meet various needs, including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of the farming operation or refinancing certain debts, a USDA press release stated late Thursday.
Farmers have until Sept. 9 to apply for a loan. Eligible counties also include Wyoming, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara and Orleans.
Residents in pockets of Genesee County have been hit hardest by drought and resulting dry wells since summer 2023, including in Pembroke, Pavilion, and especially in the town of Bethany -- which has declared a State of Emergency -- with at least 100 households, and several businesses and a handful of farms with little to no water on their properties.
As Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. has said, it’s hard enough to have no access to water, but then to have to spend the time and money to drive — for some farms on a daily basis — several miles roundtrip to fill containers with up to 60,000 gallons of water and haul it back, it takes a big toll financially.
“That’s not sustainable for a farm,” Hyde has said in a prior interview with The Batavian. “And if they were to sell off the dairy herd, they’ve got 100 employees. What are you gonna do, kick them to the curb? And it’s not just like one dairy farm.”
Bethany has about five of them, all battling the elements of no rain and dry wells, he said.
The town is in progress with paperwork for Water District 5 and a public hearing since the project had to be budgeted for increased costs, which will be covered with grants for $16.5 million and an infrastructure improvement grant for $5 million, which was just awarded at the end of 2023.
Hyde will be formally announcing that public hearing, which has been set for 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at Bethany Town Hall. Water District 5 runs north to Route 20 and includes 440 residential properties. Two-thirds of town residents will have public water by the time the district is completed, and then the town will pursue District 6 next, he said.
The Town of Le Roy also received a $5 million water infrastructure grant for its Water District 12, and Genesee County was given a $30 million bond for its Phase 3 water project to ensure a strong water system throughout the county.
As for Pembroke’s water shortage, Town Supervisor Tom Schneider said that there were a dozen residents having issues with dry wells that the town was aware of in mid-December. The town offered them an option to fill water totes at the town hall.
“We have been (getting) one or two people every other day coming to fill water totes,” Schneider said. “We always will seek funding for any new water districts. Grants and low-interest loans are the only way to make water districts work in low-density areas.”
Water District 4, which covers most of the roads north of the Thruway, has been approved by the state Comptroller, and the town is in progress with putting it out for bid. Water District 5, covering Pratt, Kilian and Slusser roads south of the Thruway, is awaiting the Comptroller’s approval “due to the proposed debt service being a few dollars higher than the Comptroller’s automatic approval threshold,” he said.
“We have very preliminarily looked at the cost of water districts to the parts of the town, but do not have any concrete plans for any new districts,” he said. “We’re hearing some residents have drilled their existing wells deeper with success.”
The Town of Bethany has declared a State of Emergency for water services during a year-end meeting on Thursday due to the town’s inability to provide water services to the affected parcels of approximately 100 residences and two dairy farms in the town.
The town’s Water District 5 had previously been approved by the town to be installed for service as of Jan. 25, 2021, however, the "COVID emergency" and resulting escalated costs caused the project to increase from $16 million to $20 million, and the town no longer had the authority, by way of bond resolution or the State Comptroller’s Office, to continue with the plan for District 5, town officials said in a related resolution signed during the meeting.
During the spring, summer, fall and winter of 2023, the southeastern portion of Genesee County, including the town of Bethany, experienced severe drought conditions and those residences and dairy farms lost all water services, with one dairy facility needing to haul 60,000 gallons of water per day to meet the needs of its livestock.
Based on the determination that the inability to provide water service to the affected parcels imperils the public health and safety, the Town Board of the town of Bethany, through Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr., has found it to be in the best interest of the town to declare a local State of Emergency due to the drought conditions pursuant to 24(1) of the New York State Executive Law, the town’s resolution states, and as a result of the severe drought, all eight farms with cattle are now hauling water either to supplement their well shortfalls or their well failures.
“This is not a sustainable practice nor expense that farms can endure for a prolonged period of time,” the resolution states.
“Due to lack of water in ponds, streams, etc., because of the severe drought conditions, the ability for the fire department to fight fires is extremely hampered. Water for fighting fires must now be trucked into Bethany at 3,500 gallons per truckload from eight to 10 miles away from surrounding towns, and now therefore it is hereby resolved that the town board of the town of Bethany hereby declares a State of Emergency due to the drought conditions present in Genesee County and the Town of Bethany."
This declaration shall be in full force and effect for a period of 30 days or util rescinded by Hyde, whichever occurs first, and he may issue additional declarations extending the local emergency for additional periods not to exceed 30 days until the emergency ceases or is abated.
Town Council members Jeffrey Fluker, Timothy Embt, Steven Wells and Diane Fowler signed the resolution.
The town had been loaned a 6,700 gallon water tanker this past month from the state Office of Emergency Management, and had to return it earlier this week. Wells had not been recharged at that point, and Hyde said he would be thinking creatively about how to help town residents with their water shortages.
Bethany town residents will be able to fill their water totes for the last time from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the town hall, Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. says.
“We knew it was on loan. I asked for an extension and we didn’t get it. Everybody knew this might happen. We just need to figure out the next step. I’m not done thinking outside the box,” Hyde said Thursday morning. “We’ve got a lot of bottled drinking water for residents; that’s a good thing. We will continue with the bottled water program until all 24 pallets are handed out to those whose wells have gone gone dry.”
Even with the tanker, it has been a completely flawless operation, he said, given the cold temperatures. There have been several times that the water valve has been frozen and needed to be thawed out. As winter progresses, that would have continued to be a difficulty to contend with, he said.
“The weather’s a huge factor in where we’re going and what we’re able to do. Mother Nature is just being difficult; first she put us in this drought and then she brought all this cold weather,” he said.The pump housing is aluminum. We can’t heat it up with a torch; aluminum does not like torches and heat, it could expand and crack.We’ve had to pour warm water on it to thaw it out. It’s not easy.”
He commended the town board and community members for pulling together and working out solutions so far.
“We are resilient in Bethany, and we will do what we have to, to come through this,” he said. “Everybody has done a great job to get us to this point.”
Having the 6,700 tanker from the state was a temporary fix that was appreciated, and more residents have water totes as a result of it, he said. For now, they will have to travel to Batavia, Pavilion or Stafford to meet their water supplies. He has not heard of any dry wells recharging to the point of being filled on their own, he said.
“We are talking, we are trying to figure something out,” Hyde said. “We did have the hall booked for Christmas parties and New Year’s Eve parties, and those were canceled.”
The volunteer fire company usually has several breakfast fundraisers the first part of the year, and those too have been canceled without water, he said.
“We don’t know when the water is coming back,” he said. “It really upsets the apple cart. Unfortunately, I have to be the bearer of bad news.”
Associate Professor Stephen Shaw Photo from SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry website
With so much talk about global warming and climate change, that would seem to be the likely culprit for drought so extreme it has dried up dozens of wells in pockets of Genesee County.
However, Stephen Shaw, associate professor for environmental resources engineering at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, says it might be much more random than that.
Shaw has just completed a 20-year analysis and a report about dry wells across the entire northeast. He found that a drought in 2016 was “pretty intense,” especially across Western New York and Buffalo in particular. That didn’t match what these towns — the volume of households — in Genesee County have experienced, he said. He echoed what locals have described as "the most intense drought" ever seen.
“I haven't come across anything like that before. So it's definitely … it's not abnormal during dry periods to have some dry wells. But I've never seen anything where it's this many in one place,” Shaw said during an interview with The Batavian. “But I think it's just this really unusual, spatially isolated dry period. I've never seen anything like that in terms of looking at the maps and stuff. It's super dry in that area where it's happened. So it just seems like really unusual conditions, but probably nothing bigger going on. Just kind of bad luck, roll the dice for that area."
He’s been studying water, drought and well level patterns for the last two decades and noted the unusually low levels in certain areas of the county —- being experienced especially in the town of Bethany, with other areas of Pavilion and Pembroke also being affected.
He referred to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and one spot that pops up just south of Batavia — “not a little dot, but sort of a small mark what we call spatially isolated,” he said.
“So most of the rest of Western New York hasn't been nearly as dry as that one location. Which, in this issue, you know, when you look at that, it's like, well, it's just, it just seems like they really just had some bad luck in a way, because climate patterns, you know, are continental or maybe regional, you know, statewide,” he said. “But this is just like these really small pockets of really dry conditions. So it's really hard to pin that on climate change at a larger scale. And for anthropogenic climate change, the projections, especially for some of the East Coast and Northeast, are generally to be wetter conditions. The climate model projections would say that it's anticipated with climate change, that most likely the Northeast will be wetter, will have more rainfall.”
“The Northeast Regional Climate Center, which is based at Cornell, have these maps of precipitation deficits in the state. So you can look at this map and see the same way the drought monitor shows like this pretty spacious, spatially isolated, little spot where it's been dry, the rainfall map shows the same thing. So this is a drought that's really caused by, instead of high temperatures and higher evaporation, it's really been caused by lack of precipitation,” he said.
So, can you attribute the lack of precipitation and resulting drought to anything?
“Not really, because it's so spatially isolated, like if it was a bigger region or, you know, the larger northeast region, but it's really just over part of the county or the town. It's really just such a small area that's dry. It's hard to say it's larger climate patterns, it just seems like kind of bad luck in terms of where rain didn't fall,” he said.
To attribute a drought to climate change, there would have to be more of a pattern established, he said, such as this happening three times every 50 years versus once every 50 years. And a climate change factor would also cover a large area, not just 20 square miles, for example, he said.
As for a solution, it sounds like these residents will have to just wait for Mother Nature to come through, is that right?
“It should reset, it should start to refill. Sometimes through the fall, actually, that's really the driest time of the year, like through October, because you basically … have the tree leaves still in the trees. So there's still evaporation, there's not that much rainfall often. You don't really start to get a sort of replenishment of groundwater until, say, November, something like that. So maybe it's a little delayed this year,” he said. “But now, with the leaves definitely off the trees and then you don't have much evaporation. So pretty much any precipitation that falls is going to start to go to recharge. So they should start to see recharge here in the next few weeks to two months. But it can take a while as you've depleted the water, the water has been drawn down. And it takes a while to fill that backup. But there's no reason to think that it won't start to recharge, especially as we get some winter storms and wet weather.
“The drought in 2016, it actually reversed pretty quickly. Groundwater always is a little more delayed, but you know, you just get some change in storm weather patterns, and you go from not having much rain to having quite a bit in a short period of time,” he said. “I haven't looked at the forecast over there. But it sometimes doesn't take that long in terms of just to get two weeks of pretty rainy conditions and you're catching up pretty quick.”
That would be awesome news for Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. and the dozens of town residents who have been scrambling for water due to dry wells the last few months and to others on the county’s west side, including Janet Seaver and at least 10 other households in Pembroke. All of those folks had been driving out of town to fill up containers on a regular basis so that their homes would have water for basic necessities.
Only more recently, in the last couple of weeks, was Bethany able to better assist homeowners by filling totes from a large tanker stationed at town hall. The town caught the attention of the state Office of Emergency Management in Albany, and it sent a 6,700-gallon water tanker to the town for water fills. Once word began to spread about that option, the tanker was emptied in six hours, Hyde said.
The town is now on its second tanker full of water, thanks to a refill from the county. Donations of bottled water from Casella Waste Systems, Tops Friendly Markets and Wegmans Food Markets have also allowed for drinking water distributions to those residents as well, he said.
“People have been coming for their rations. The hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 to 3,” he said Thursday. “The fill times are Tuesdays 5 to 7 p.m. and Thursdays 6 to 8 p.m. every week, that seems to be working for people. We still need people who need water to get on the list. Tuesday, we picked up four new people. Yesterday was the first day we had no calls.”
Town of Pembroke officials more recently began to offer filling containers with water for town residents, and the need has been there. Janet Seaver had initially counted 10 people in addition to her and her husband having dry wells, and two more wells had gone dry since then, she said.
She and her husband have been stockpiling water in barrels to “get us hopefully through February,” she said.
“We cannot afford to drill, as we are both retired and on a fixed income,” she said. “Those that have drilled have reported paying 12 to 15 thousand. We are praying for rain and/or snow to make the wells come back, and if not, we will be living like this until public water is put through.”
A request for comment from Town Supervisor Tom Schneider about the drought and future public water possibilities was not returned Friday afternoon.
A quick look at the extended weather forecast shows a mixed bag of rain and wet snow for at least seven more days in December in a pattern that Shaw pointed to as the beginning of winter’s recharge for dry wells.
For more information about drought levels, go HERE
For a live water data monitor, go HERE. Shaw said that the local water table, per a well monitor just south of Batavia, has risen by two feet as of Thursday.
Water donations kept coming to the Town of Bethany on Saturday, as 18 pallets of bottled drinking water were delivered by Food Link from Wegmans Food Markets and four pallets of drinking water came from Tops Friendly Markets to the town hall.
Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. has said that the bottled water will get distributed to residents with dry wells who have signed up at the town hall. Bethany residents in need who have not yet called the town hall for help are asked to call 585-343-1399, Ext. 202 to leave your name, phone number and address to be put on the list.
Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. would like all town of Bethany residents to know that there will be a first come-first served opportunity for them to fill up their 250 and 500-gallon totes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
You are asked to only use the Bethany Center Road driveway of the Town Hall to line up. Volunteers will have more information about future fill dates and times, Hyde said.
The town received a temporary reprieve from its drought situation when a 6,700 tanker was sent from the New York State Office of Emergency Management early Wednesday morning to help out the dozens of residents whose wells have gone dry and are without water at their homes.
Hyde said the plan is to fill totes with the water provided and then get the tanker refilled by Genesee County throughout the next 30 days, the time the town has been promised use of the tanker.
Although it was a question as to who would be paying for the water, The Batavian reached out to County Manager Matt Landers, and he said it would cost "only $20" per tanker, so that wasn't likely going to be an issue, no matter which municipality ends up paying for it. Genesee County will take care of the labor to transport the tanker to get refilled and back to Bethany, Landers said Thursday.
Hyde said he believes this is a "temporary bright spot."
"The drought could last until spring," he said Friday.
Today we received a tanker of water from the NY State Office of Emergency Management to temporarily provide water to our residents experiencing dry wells.
For those residents affected, please call 585-343-1399, Ext. 202, and leave your full name, address and phone number. You will then be contacted with times to come to the town hall parking lot to fill your water totes.
Respectfully, Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr.
You just bought your first house, which has a 16-foot well, and that works sufficiently for your family and your 250-head dairy farm for a few years. Then in 2007, the well goes dry.
So you drill it out and go down 65 feet and hit water. You’re good again, until 2013, when the well goes dry again.
Then you have to go down 125 feet at a cost of $75 per foot. You strike water and are good again, but only for another five years. In 2018 the well goes dry permanently.
That happened to Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde.
“So my wife and I went for one year without water,” he said. “I had to go buy a 250-gallon water tank, and had to go buy a trailer to put it on to haul it and drive it to either Pavilion or Stafford to fill it up and back it up in my yard to my well.”
The well sucked up that water into the house and used it just for the toilets. Additional water was needed for drinking.
One’s lifestyle most definitely changes without running water, he said. You microwave your meals, eat on paper plates and use plastic cutlery. Showers are taken at obliging family members’ homes, and dirty clothes are taken care of at a laundromat.
There’s no turning on the tap, hopping in the shower or taking anything for granted when it comes to a steady stream of that liquid gold labeled H2O.
The Hydes tracked their water-related expenses and spent $2,200 in one year. They are now on public water and pay $40 per quarter. They have walked the walk and can empathize with the town residents who are now wrestling with the effects of an excessively parched Mother Nature.
Out of 665 households, some 350 to 400 “may have water,” Hyde said, and at least 100 do not, plus some dairy farms and businesses. He has applied a second time for a state Water Infrastructure Improvement grant and is anxiously waiting to hear back about approval or denial.
There is another option — a USDA loan of $5 million at 3.1 percent interest to shore up a previously obtained $16.5 million grant to meet a new project total of $21.5 million for District 5. One thing’s for sure, though, he said.
“That’s going to raise the cost for public water,” Hyde said.
A straw poll would be taken of the 400 District 5 residents, and 51 percent have to say yes for it to be approved. Yes would mean they get public water, but it would also mean paying more due to the increased project cost and paying off that $5 million plus interest over 30 years.
On the other hand, there’s the option of doing nothing and having no water at all. That’s an existence Hyde does not wish on anyone.
“Until you live that ugly (experience), you don’t know. I’m not saying my house is a mansion or anything, but, you know, even a $100,000 house is great, but when you have no water, you can’t sell it; it’s worthless,” he said. “And life is miserable.”
A tanker filled with 6,700 gallons of water arrives early Wednesday morning in Bethany. Photo submitted by Carl Hyde
All things considered, Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde was in fairly good spirits Tuesday evening after making phone calls to Bethany residents for three hours to, as he put it, serve as an early Grinch and rob them of their holiday.
Those people had been planning on celebrating Thanksgiving at the town’s Community Center because they didn’t have water in their own homes. On Tuesday morning, the Community Center went dry as well.
“They always rent the hall. So today, I had to be the Grinch that stole Christmas and Thanksgiving. I’m just sick to my stomach over it,” Hyde said. “I’ve been here 60 years, other than the six years I was in the military, and I’ve never seen it like this. And even some of the old people that have been in to see me that are out of water, they’ve been here a heck of a lot longer than me, and they’ve never seen it this bad.”
Just how bad? Out of 665 homes, 100 of those households do not have water, plus several dairy farms that either have no water at all or are having to truck water in to supplement the sparse supply that they do have, he said. And then there are the businesses that are also hauling in water because they have none.
Remember those warnings during the summer to use water sparingly because of dry conditions? While Bethany’s intense dehydration is affecting home, dairy and business owners’ wells, it’s due to the same type of drought conditions, Hyde said. There has not been a significant enough snow or rain fall in a long enough time period, that it has made a huge impact on well water levels, he said.
The sliver of silver lining for Hyde was that he heard from the state Office of Emergency Management Tuesday, and it is sending a tanker full of water — 6,700 gallons full — to Bethany to help out. Hyde will be setting up a schedule for folks to fill their 250 and 500-gallon jugs for at least some relief during the holiday week and beyond.
He has been gathering a list of people who are without water and encourages residents to contact him if they have not yet gotten on that list. Genesee County Health Department has also been helping out, he said.
“I can have a system set up for the residents of Bethany that need to fill their water tank. I'm going to have 6,700 gallons to dole out to those people to try to help them out. The Genesee County Health Department's been very helpful,” Hyde said. “They're working, contacting Department of Homeland Services and environmental services to see if they can bring in, get from the state, a truckload of gallons or pallets of bottled water to these people, so we're going all different avenues to try to help relieve some of their pain.
“I’m trying all kinds of avenues. Anybody that wants to help, any big stores, Walmart Tops, wants to donate a pallet of water for the residents, we greatly appreciate it,” he said. “Whatever help I can get for these people, I’m not afraid to ask.”
He will gladly accept donations and distribute them to a community that has struggled with water issues for the last 25 years, he said. He cited one large dairy farm, Lor-Rob, which is trucking in 60,000 gallons of water a day for its 6,000 cows.
“That’s not sustainable for a farm,” Hyde said. “And if they were to sell off the dairy herd, they’ve got 100 employees. What are you gonna do, kick them to the curb? And it’s not just like one dairy farm.”
He went on to list three or four others, all dealing with the same problem.
Well, why doesn’t he apply for assistance, certainly there must be aid for a municipality in this condition. He did. In 2022, Hyde included real-life scenarios of what the residents are enduring to apply for a state Water Infrastructure Improvement (WIIA) grant.
Bethany was turned down, as it didn’t qualify.
“They’re giving money away like candy,” he said. “But when someone is in dire need, you can’t get it. I’m doing everything I can. I've called FEMA, Homeland Security and environmental services. I've called the state, I've called the federal government. I've got everybody in the mix right now.”
He has applied for another WIIA grant and is hoping to hear back by the end of this year. He included a stack of letters fromresidents. The town does have four water districts, two each on the northeast and northwest side of town, and Hyde is pursuing a District 5 in the heart of Bethany, where 52 homes have no water at all.
The town had pursued District 5 in 2018 and a USDA grant of $16.5 million. It was looking hopeful, and then COVID came along, everything shut down, and “prices went through the roof,” Hyde said. That project shot up in price, with the cheapest route using plastic piping for a total of $21.5 million.The grant was still $5 million short.
Several politicians have reached out in support of Bethany, and Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney put in for federal appropriations budget funding. Again, it seems as though timing and circumstances aren’t exactly on Bethany’s side.
Since Congress hasn’t been taking care of much business, that budget vote still remains in the to-do pile, Hyde said.
“You know how confused the federal government's been with getting rid of McCarthy and all that. They've been really confused and have lost sight of the American citizens. So they haven't even voted on the budget yet,” he said. “So we don't know if we'll even get any federal appropriations money. Bethany is literally caught between a rock and a hard place.
I mean, if we get any funding, you know, when we get all the paperwork for that done, whichever route we go, we can't start digging until probably summertime, when we do the bid process. Award the bid, then order the material, and they start digging, it’s probably going to be summer. And the water district is going to take 12 to 18 months to complete,” he said. “So we're looking at 2025-26 when people actually have water at the tap. So how long is the drought going to last? It’s a dilemma.”
He knows all about having to live without water and can empathize all day long with his residents, but in the meantime, Hyde is trying to get something done to help. Once that tanker is empty, it will go to Genesee County for a refill, and that can keep happening for at least the next 30 days, he said.
The state Office of Emergency Management has sent it on loan for 30 days, with the possibility of an extension. He’s not sure who will pay the tab for the water and isn’t as concerned about that right now.
“We’re going to help the residents first, and then worry about that later, how we’re going to work this out,” he said. “There’s got to be an amicable way to work this out. My goal is to get all the logistics worked out by tomorrow afternoon, so those people in their homes on Thanksgiving can have water.”
If you’re a Bethany resident without water and need to get on his list or have a donation of water, call Hyde at 585-356-2658.
The Town of Bethany is changing its March monthly meeting from Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. to Monday, March 20 at 7 p.m. due to unforeseen circumstance.
The Town of Bethany Republican Committee is seeking individuals who are interested in being considered for nomination to serve out the unfinished term of the Town Clerk, which will end in 2023. The position exists due to a recent retirement of the incumbent Town Clerk.
The Committee will be meeting on Friday, July 16th at 5 p.m. at the Town of Bethany Community Center, 10510 Bethany Center Road.
Those interested please send letter of intent to: Thomas J. Douglas, 10515 East Road, Pavilion, NY 14525.
Town supervisors and village mayors in Genesee County have varied opinions when it comes to the circumstances surrounding changes in revenue distribution from the county that have occurred over the past six months.
Some, such as Batavia Town Supervisor Gregory Post, have voiced their support of the County Legislature, reasoning that lawmakers and county management have acted prudently as they deal with the negative financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Others, such as Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr., have criticized the legislature for nullifying agreements between the county and municipalities from 2018 and 2019 to make quarterly revenue payments.
It was in May, a couple months into an economic shutdown, when legislators rescinded the authority of the county treasurer to make those payments, action that Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein called a temporary move and pleaded for town and village officials to “hang in there with us.”
Since then, the legislature continued to pass resolutions that provide money to the municipalities, now calling them "voluntary revenue distributions" that are not subjected to a formal contract. The fourth and final payment for 2020 is expected to be approved by lawmakers at their meeting next week.
On Tuesday, Hyde said the county’s decision to cancel the revenue sharing agreement has led to a “lack of trust.”
“They left the towns hanging when the county decided to completely cut the sales tax revenue distribution from the towns, and left us to fend for ourselves,” said Hyde, who is completing his sixth year as supervisor and has three years remaining on his current term. “Yes, there have been some distributions (in 2020) but they aren’t what we were supposed to get.”
Hyde also said he’s not convinced that the municipalities will receive the amounts the county has publicized for 2021, either.
“Until it shows up in the town’s bank account, I’m not taking them at their word for it. They took an agreement that all the towns (and villages) worked hard at to come up with and signed and agreed to, and they just threw it away.”
Town Received 16.2 Percent Less
Final revenue distribution dollar amounts for 2020 released by the county show that the Town of Bethany was allocated $502,644.47 – that's 16.2 percent less than the $599,560 than it would have received if the previous distribution agreement was still intact.
The 16.2 percent is slightly more than the 14.8-percent average decrease across all the municipalities for 2020, Landers said.
Landers said the first payment was made per the previous agreement with the towns and villages. The remaining three payments were based on current taxable assessed valuations of the municipalities.
“So, municipalities that had recent assessment increases at a higher rate than other municipalities did better than municipalities that had low assessment increases or no assessment increases,” Landers explained. “In the Town of Batavia, for example, because they had more growth, its decrease is less than 14.8 percent (actually 11.8 percent), while some municipalities had higher than 14.8 percent.”
The county manager said the legislature understands the difficulty that this creates for towns and villages, “but we’re just basically trying to share in it and not pass all of our (losses) as we’re projecting a 20-percent reduction in our state aid and a 4 to 5 percent (reduction) in sales tax. So, we’re trying to share the best we can while also maintaining our operations.”
County Allocates $10 Million for 2021
Going forward, the county recently announced it plans to distribute $10 million to the towns and villages in 2021. That represents a 28.5-percent decrease from what it originally planned to share.
The Town of Bethany is supposed to receive $410,123 next year and has budgeted accordingly, Hyde said.
“We’re trying to do what we can to survive with whatever the county gives us, we’re going to use it for road maintenance, to keep the taxes down, things like that,” he said. “We’re trying to get off the county welfare wagon.”
Hyde said his 2021 preliminary budget of $1,100,935 calls for an increase of 28 cents in the property tax rate – from $3.71 per thousand of assessed value to $3.99 per thousand of assessed value.
“It’s better than what it could have been,” Hyde admitted, noting that when the distribution agreement was ended, the town was looking at a tax rate of $9 per thousand.
Fund Balance to be Utilized
He said the budget lists revenues at $476,221 in revenues, fund balance to be used at $226,842 and the tax levy at $397,872. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Bethany Town Hall.
“We’ve cut everything – every line in the budget pretty much. We asked all the elected officials if they would be willing to take a 10-percent pay cut, which they did, and the town had to eliminate a person from the highway department,” Hyde said.
Hyde said he and the board “have done a good job over the last six years, not raising taxes and maintaining everything that we need to, and I’m sure the residents are happy about that. This whole thing threw a monkey wrench it in.”
He said he would like to see someone with a financial background “step up” and run for his office in 2023, but until then, he said he will continue to monitor the state Comptroller’s website each month to see how much each county has either lost or gained in sales tax revenue.
“From January 1st through the end of September, Genesee County’s sales tax is only down 7 percent,” he said. “And here we are down (much more than that) because of whatever the county is doing with the money. That doesn’t make sense does it.”
Landers responded to Hyde’s concerns by noting the legislature voted in favor of a resolution to authorize the final distribution of this year.
“That’s why we passed that Rule 19 resolution to try to demonstrate that it’s on the way and it will get paid in the next audit at the legislature meeting on October 28th,” Landers said. “That’s when the payments for the final distribution go through and on that Friday (Oct. 30) is when the ACH (automated clearing house) payment will show up in their bank accounts. For those who don’t have direct deposit, the checks will be mailed out.”
Bethany Signs Plowing, Mowing Contract
In another development, the Town of Bethany has entered into an intermunicipal agreement with the county to provide snow and ice control and mowing services on county roads.
According to a resolution to go before the entire legislature on Oct. 28, the cost per mile for the 2021 snow and ice season is $6,521 and the cost per mile for mowing is $474. This represents a 1.1-percent increase in the rate for snow and ice over the 2020 season and a 2-percent increase in the cost for mowing.
The total annual payment to the Town of Bethany for these services will be $141,961.85 for snow and ice control and $10,328.46 for roadside mowing.
“With this contract, all towns except the Town of Batavia have snowplowing and mowing contracts with Genesee County,” Highway Superintendent Tim Hens said. “It is the most efficient way for us to plow the roads for our residents.”
Hens said the agreement with the Town of Batavia stipulates that the county plows roads east of Route 98 and the town plows roads west of Route 98 since their highway garages are on opposite sides of the city/town.
“Again, it’s the most efficient way. We’ve been doing it that way for 20 years,” Hens added.
Town of Bethany offices will open on Monday, May 18, 2020.
Court has not reopened as of yet. Per NYS Court Administration an opening date has not been determined.
All visitors to the Town Hall must wear facial covering and practice social distancing.
Residents/customers must schedule appointments to handle business that cannot be handled via phone, email or regular mail. A drop box is also available near the Town Hall door. Receipts, etc. will be mailed to you.
No visitors to the Highway Department are allowed without an appointment. Facial covering and social distancing requirements must be adhered to.
All Board meetings will commence beginning with the regularly scheduled in June. Facial cover and social distancing protocol must be followed by everyone in attendance.
By order of Town of Bethany Supervisor and Chief Executive Officer Carl Hyde Jr., a State of Emergency was declared in the Town of Bethany, effective at 3 p.m. on March 19, 2020 due to the ongoing viral pandemic of COVID-19 and the existing States of Emergency at the Federal, State, and County level.
This State of Emergency is hereby renewed by the Town Supervisor of Bethany.
This State of Emergency is declared in an effort to protect public health and safety and will remain in effect for 30 days or until rescinded by a subsequent order.
As the Chief Executive of the Town of Bethany, County of Genesee, State of New York, I, Carl Hyde Jr., exercise the authority given me under Section 24 of the New York State Executive Law, to preserve the public safety and hereby render all required and available assistance vital to the security, well-being, and health of the citizens of this Municipality. I hereby direct all departments and agencies of the Town of Bethany to take whatever steps necessary to protect life and property, public infrastructure, and provide such emergency assistance deemed necessary.
By order of Town of Bethany Supervisor and Chief Executive Officer Carl Hyde Jr., a State of Emergency is hereby declared in the Town of Bethany, effective at 3 p.m. on March 19, 2020 due to the ongoing viral pandemic of COVID-19 and the existing States of Emergency at the Federal, State, and County level.
This State of Emergency is declared in an effort to protect public health and safety and will remain in effect for 30 days or until rescinded by a subsequent order.
As the Chief Executive of the Town of Bethany, County of Genesee, State of New York, I, Carl Hyde Jr., exercise the authority given me under Section 24 of the New York State Executive Law, to preserve the public safety and hereby render all required and available assistance vital to the security, well-being, and health of the citizens of this Municipality. I hereby direct all departments and agencies of the Town of Bethany to take whatever steps necessary to protect life and property, public infrastructure, and provide such emergency assistance deemed necessary.
Emergency Orders
These orders took effect March 19, 2020 at 3 p.m. and will remain in effect for five days unless rescinded earlier or renewed in five-day increments by the Chief Executive Officer:
Town of Bethany Town Hall, Town Offices and Highway Garage are closed to the public. Employees will continue to receive regular pay and be considered as on-call in the event of an emergency. Employees are encouraged to take all steps to avoid personal infection of the virus so that they remain ready in case of further emergency.
Bethany Town Board meetings are cancelled until further notice.
All Bethany Town Court matters are cancelled until further notice.
Taxes, dog licenses and other payments or applications may be placed in the drop box located near the front door of the Town Hall or mailed to the Town Hall at: 10510 Bethany Center Road, East Bethany, NY 14054. Receipts will be mailed to you after they have been processed.
The Town of Bethany Transfer Station will be open for use for Bethany residents on Saturday, March 21 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ONLY and will close permanently thereafter. Residents must dispose of their trash as quickly as possible with as little personal contact as possible. (The Transfer Station will not be open as previously planned on March 28, 2020.)
These actions are in the interest of protecting public health and reducing transmission of COVID-19.
