Northport Village sued over water use

Three property owners sued Northport Village this week, arguing that it did not have authority to charge them a sewer user fee before the law establishing the fee was passed -- a fee the village dismissed as "frivolous."

Frank and Joseph Cavagnaro and former Mayor Peter Panarites filed the lawsuit Tuesday in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County over the village's "sewer rent," a fee that the village established last August for homes and businesses connected to the municipal sewer system.

"They filed it and adopted a law and are charging you retroactively," said Panarites, who owns a business on Main Street and was charged about $2,000 in sewer rent. "We don't think that's legal."

The trio's attorney, William Friedman of Hempstead, said the village acted inappropriately when it sent out a bill for sewer rents in January that included a fee for usage in 2009 and 2010 -- before the law was enacted.

"If you look at the law, it doesn't say anything about it being retroactive," Friedman said. "There are very limited circumstances in which you can make taxes retroactive in New York. We say it doesn't fit under that standard."

But village attorney Jim Matthews said the lawsuit is based on a misinterpretation. Northport did not charge property owners retroactively for the period of time before the law was enacted, but used water usage rates from 2009 and 2010 to calculate the appropriate current fee. It also provides an appeals process.

"It's just a way to figure out what your level of usage is, your fair share of the fee," said Matthews. "This is a burden on the taxpayers to have to defend this lawsuit. It's a shame they would do this. It's a waste of taxpayer dollars."About 10 percent to 15 percent of property owners in the village use the sewer system and thus received the rent bill, Matthews said. Property owners not hooked up to the sewer system were not affected. Those who received such bills have until June 1 to pay the sewer rent, which was calculated based on each property's water usage.