Have you read your water meter lately? If, like my husband and I, your answer is "No," that may cost you a lot of money. Wouldn't you think that the village of Farmingdale has an obligation to read your meter annually? Wouldn't you think that the village has an obligation to read your meter accurately, when it does read the meter? Wouldn't you think that there is a time limit, or statute of limitations for the village to bill retroactively for water usage? As my husband and I have learned, the village's answer to each of these questions is "no." Since November 2004 we have been embroiled with the Village of Farmingdale in a dispute involving our alleged usage of water. During the course of this dispute, we learned that the village has not taken one single accurate meter reading since we bought this house in January 1998 and that it is now our problem.

In November 2004, in response to our request for an actual meter reading, the village advised us that we had used in excess of 2.6 million gallons of water since the last reading, which was in 2002. Village personnel and officials ignored our repeated protestations that it would be impossible for us to do so, until Nassau County Legislator David Mejias, who broached the issue at a village hall meeting in January, got the ball rolling.

Ultimately, it became the village's position that since 1998 we were under billed for 608,000 gallons of water and on Feb. 16, 2005, the Village Clerk/Treasurer John Giordano sent us a bill for $2,091.53 which, inexplicably, included a penalty of $136.83. Never mind the fact that the village had never sent us a bill for this water before. Never mind the fact that the village's figure would mean that we used in excess of 250,000 gallons of water each year, a particularly unlikely scenario given that we have been using approximately 1,000 to 1,150 gallons of water a week (or 52,000 to 59,800 gallons annually) since November. Never mind that since January 1998, the village had not recorded one single accurate reading of our water meter or that we brought the problem to the village's attention. Never mind that Mayor Graf did not respond to any of our letters, all copied to him, or the fact that Mr. Giordano consistently refused us access to Mayor Graf to discuss the issue. Never mind the fact that we were not the only household to encounter such a problem with the village or that the rates for water usage in the village are much, much higher than the rates in surrounding areas.

I cannot explain any of this, but what I can do is inform village residents who can vote for or against the officials responsible for this fiasco at the next village elections. So, read your meters often and check your water bills carefully.

Stacey Tranchina