Many Liberty Water customers are wincing when they look at their water bills these days.

As News 12 just reported earlier this week, ratepayers are complaining about massive summer time water bill increases.

"Our water bill went from approximately $104 to $285 for the same period year to year, and we haven't changed our usage routines. How can this be?," Dan Duffy wrote on the News 12 Long Island Facebook page.

"My bill doubled," Ana Saborido added.

State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri Fitzpatrick of Malverne, herself one of Liberty Water's 120,000 customers across Nassau County, says the problem isn't necessarily an increase in summer water usage. That's what Liberty suggested over the weekend. Instead, the senator blames rate hikes approved by the state board that oversees proposed rate increases -- and says there are problems with current state laws as well that are driving up costs for liberty, and in turn, you the customer.

"Liberty Water as a private water company can't apply for the same federal grants or state grants as a public water authority. So that's why, legislatively, I've proposed allowing private water companies to have the ability to apply for public grants," Sen. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick said.

"The consumers with Liberty Water are paying about 30% of their water bill to the special franchise tax. So I've proposed legislation to eliminate that as well."

News 12 reached out Liberty Water for comment about Sen. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick's proposals. Communications specialist Pamela Bellings shared the following statement:

"Liberty has been advocating for the removal of the Special Franchise Tax and to be given the chance to apply for grants because it will absolutely provide rate relief for our customers. The Special Franchise Tax is often between 30-50 percent of a customer's bill. We are working on behalf of our customers to eliminate that charge and lower their monthly bills.

Providing access to grant applications would mean that Liberty customers would benefit from lower costs for our projects due to the grant subsidy. This is only fair since their taxes cover these grants, and customers of other water utilities are the only current beneficiaries. It is a common-sense measure that provides all residents with the same benefits.

We are grateful to Sen. Canzoneri Fitzpatrick and Sen. Rhoads for supporting these initiatives that are solely meant to benefit our customers."