Town-gown dispute in Alfred, N.Y., over water bills

To try to cover its costs, the village of Alfred, N.Y., told two higher-education institutions, Alfred University and Alfred State College, that they would have to pay more for their water, The New York Times reports. Alfred State, part of the State University of New York system, has balked. Town-versus-gown squabbles such as this over payments in lieu of taxes — known by the acronym PILOT — are becoming more common and often contentious.