Albany – The New York State Assembly’s proposed $226.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2022-23 includes $5 million in capital funding for repairs to the North Tonawanda Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The 42-year-old facility on River Road is in desperate need of upgrades, which would total roughly $30 million. However, plant personnel indicate that $10 million would allow for the most urgently necessary repairs, including the replacement of severely leaky interior pipes and the addition of a backup power source to ensure the facility would keep running during an outage.

Assemblyman Bill Conrad, D-Town of Tonawanda, was alerted recently to the plant’s deteriorating condition by North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec and Water/Wastewater Superintendent Jason Koepsell. Conrad advocated for the plant in his budget priorities memo to Assembly leadership, and after touring the facility this month at the behest of Tylec, Conrad also appealed to the Governor, State Department of Environmental Conservation, and his Assembly colleagues for their support of the capital spending allotment.

“The state of the North Tonawanda Wastewater Treatment Plant is at a critical point,” Conrad said. “The city’s taxpayers cannot carry the financial burden of this project, nor can they afford for that plant to fail – and as anyone who has set foot inside knows, its failure is imminent. Failure of the plant would have disastrous consequences for the residents and for our environment, leading to backups into basements and the discharge of raw sewage into the Niagara River.”

Conrad said that while he was disappointed the State Senate’s one-house budget does not appear to include matching funding for the North Tonawanda Wastewater Treatment Plant, he is now urging the Senate and Gov. Hochul to maintain the Assembly’s $5 million commitment in the final budget to be adopted by April 1.

“This work has been put off for too long,” Conrad added. “I am thankful to the Assembly for heeding my warnings about the plant’s desperate condition, and to Mayor Tylec and Superintendent Koepsell for their advocacy on behalf of North Tonawanda. As they told me recently, at this point the Wastewater Treatment Plant is collapsing faster than the city can maintain and fix it. The State’s support is of monumental importance to this vital component of North Tonawanda’s infrastructure.”

Conrad is also calling for the use of federal American Rescue Plan dollars to cover a portion of the upgrades, which additionally include new pumps, and the purchase of a new digester, to replace one that broke down in 2020, causing sewage to swamp the site in dangerous proximity to the river.

Conrad highlighted several other key provisions in the one-house budget, including:

● Accelerated middle-class tax cuts, expansions of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and $2.2 billion in property tax rebate checks

“More than 283,000 homeowners across Western New York would benefit from this property tax relief, which would be available for households that are eligible for STAR or Enhanced STAR,” Conrad said. “It was paramount to me that we do our part to keep our communities affordable for families and small businesses, especially as we rebound from the pandemic.”

● $7.7 million for expansion of the Joseph P. Dwyer Peer-to-Peer Veterans’ Support Program

“This program connects military veterans with one another, providing them with a secure atmosphere in which to cope with the effects of traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health challenges,” Conrad said. “We have seen across Erie County how beneficial this program can be, and I want to grow its availability so it can help meet the unique needs of veterans across New York State.”

● $30.9 billion in General Support for Public Schools, for an increase of 7% over the 2021-22 school year; $48.8 million for SUNY to fully reimburse the system and eliminate the Tuition Assistance Program gap

“As for education funding, I’m especially proud of the $150 million we included for universal prekindergarten, to support statewide UPK for 4-year-olds,” Conrad said. “Early education is known to increase children’s literacy skills and cognitive abilities, which offers measurable benefits to them through their academic careers and into adulthood.”

● $3 billion in State and federal funds for childcare, including $2 billion to expand the eligibility for subsidized childcare to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level

“Affordable, reliable childcare will be a tool in our fight to recover from the fallout of COVID-19,” Conrad said. “This is an investment in our workforce and our children, and there is no better time for it than now.”