Some Owners Will Get A Pass
Water bills for city property owners will go up once again in July, as the New York City Water Board approved a 3.35 percent hike last Friday, May 23.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) hailed the increase as the lowest in nine years and less than half of the originally projected 7.8 percent increase.
When the new rates take effect on July 1-the start of New York City’s 2015 fiscal year-the average homeowner will pay about $3 more per month for water services. Owners of apartment houses with metered billing can expect a monthly increase of just under $2.
Some single-family homeowners, however, will not see their bills increase, as the Water Board-at the DEP’s recommendation-froze rates for customers who use less than 100 gallons of water per day, accounting for about 25 percent of all singlefamily homes in the city.
As previously reported in the Times Newsweekly, the DEP reduced the rate hike through a number of cost-cutting measures including refinancing its debt and eliminating or deferring multi-billion projects mandated by the federal and/or state governments.
The Water Board also approved a host of programs designed by the DEP to assist those struggling to make their water bill payments, including the following:
– a low-income assistance program funded by the city to identify homeowners eligible to receive an annual credit on their bills;
– expanding the Leak Notification Program-in which the DEP, through its Automated Water Readers (AMR), alerts customers to sudden spikes in water usage-to allow partial forgiveness of leak-related charges to customers who fix a leaky toilet, faucet or other maintainable fixture within 60 days of receiving an abnormally high bill;
– extending the deadline for customers to appeal their water bills to the Water Board from 30 to 60 days;
– suspending the lien sale process for customers whose appeal of an outstanding water bill is pending; and
– suspending interest for 90 days for customers who receive a “catchup” bill after the installation of AMR on their property.
For more information on the rate hike, visit www.nyc.gov/dep or call 311.
