Water Board follows through with historic hike

Refusing to reconsider an historic hike in water rates, the New York City Water Board followed through with a 9.4% increase in water and sewer fees.
Despite a $170 million surplus that could have enabled the Water Board to cut the hike by 1/3 to 6.4%, they passed the new rates on May 12.
Councilman James Gennaro, also the Chairman on the Environmental Protection Committee who was vocally opposed to the proposed hike, sent a letter to James Tripp, the Water Board Chairman, on April 28th to reconsider the proposed increases.
“This is a lost opportunity for the Water Board to minimize the impact of higher water rates on millions of New Yorkers whose wallets are already pinched by the spiraling costs of energy and other essentials,” he said.
Gennaro also called for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Water Board to establish a program - one that was promised last year but never delivered - to collect an additional $50 million annually from delinquent accounts, one of the reasons the Water Board gave for this year’s hike. Gennaro also said he will hold hearings on DEP’s progress toward such a program.
The Board, however, maintains that there was an unexpected $80 million in costs, which emanated from maintaining clean water and harbors and significantly higher costs for electricity and fuel needed to operate sewer plants, in addition to the delinquent accounts, as the need for the sudden and shocking increase.
DEP spokesman Charles Sturcken said there was no scenario in which to consider a decrease, as per Gennaro’s request, because it would only result in future repercussions. “We would just be adding to next year’s increase,” Sturcken said. “It has to be paid along the line somewhere. Next year, we may be facing a higher rate.”