Department of Public Works
Division of Pure Waters

Understanding Your Sewer Bill

All properties located within the Town of Colonie are included within the Town of Colonie Sewer Improvement Area (Sewer District) whether or not public sewer service is currently available.

It is the goal of Pure Waters to ultimately serve all properties within the Sewer District. Nominal fees are collected from those properties without sewer services to pay for treatment plant and trunk sewers which were constructed with sufficient capacity to accommodate all properties in the Sewer District and for engineering evaluations associated with sewer extensions for these unserviced areas.

As a Special District, established by Article 12-A of New York State Town Law, the Sewer District funds are separate from the remainder of Town departments and its budget is financially independent and self-supporting. All funds collected by the Sewer District are utilized for the benefit of the Sewer District.

Sewer assessments are determined based upon actual and/or estimated wastewater discharge from a property depending upon the real property class code. The charges are further separated into debt charges and operations and maintenance (O&M) charges.

Debt Charges are those associated with the capital investments for pipeline, pumping station, and treatment plant construction and improvement projects.

Operations and Maintenance Charges include routine expenses such as preventative maintenance, electricity, fuel, chemicals, and minor system repairs.

Both debt and O&M charges are included on the property General Tax Bill each January.

You may see up to four different sewer charge categories on your General Tax Bill.

Code

Category

Description

SW001 Debt This value is based upon estimated wastewater generation calculated from parcel size (and for residential properties, the number of living units) for properties where public sewer service is available. This charge applies to both residential and commercial property class codes. The value for this code typically does not change from year to year unless a property is split or merged or a property has recently been provided sewer service.
SW004 Debt This value is based upon estimated wastewater generation calculated from parcel size for properties (or for portions of larger parcels) where public sewer service is not available. The value for this code typically does not change from year to year unless a property is split or merged or a property has recently been provided sewer service.
SW006 O & M This value is based upon estimated (number of living units for residential properties) or actual (domestic water consumption for commercial properties) wastewater generation. For residential properties, the value for this code typically does not change from year to year. For commercial properties, the value is based typically upon the previous two domestic water consumption readings.
SW008 Debt This code applies to commercial properties only and is for actual wastewater generation based upon domestic water consumption. The value is based typically upon the previous two domestic water consumption readings.

Residential Sample Assessment:

SW001

Value

Wastewater generation based upon typical sized lot 2
Wastewater generation based upon one living unit 3
Total SW001's: 5

SW006

Value

Wastewater generation based upon one living unit 3
Total SW006's: 3

Larger lots, irregularly shaped lots, lots with atypical road frontage and those with multiple family units are assessed upon the same formula, but will result in different values than those of a typical property.


Commercial Sample Assessment:

SW001

Value

Wastewater generation based upon lot 4 Units / Acre 2
Total SW001's: 2

SW006

Value

Wastewater generation for metered domestic water * 3
Total SW006's: 3

SW008

Value

Wastewater generation for metered domestic water * 3
Total SW008's: 3

* Value is calculated based upon 1 Unit / 27,000 gallons of domestic water consumed in prior two billing cycles. Minimum assessment is 2 (SW001) and 3 (SW006 and SW008).

Irregularly shaped lots and lots with atypical road frontage are assessed upon the same formula, but will result in different values than those of a typical commercial property.

The value for each category code for any given parcel can be viewed in our annual Benefit Assessment Roll.


Rates:

The rates for each category code are established annually by the Town Board after a public hearing is conducted based upon the following year’s proposed budget. This process typically occurs between September and November each year.

The category code rates included on the 2024 General Tax Bill are:

Tax Bill Year

Value

SW001 $29.109246
SW004 $0.10
SW006 $69.677573
SW008 $29.109246

For questions or concerns regarding your sewer bill, please contact the Division of Pure Waters office.

Contact

(518) 783-2766, ext. 4
OFF-HOURS / EMERGENCY: (518) 783-2744
(POLICE DEPARTMENT)
Public Operations Center
First Floor
347 Old Niskayuna Road
Latham, NY 12110-2286