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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Water Board Proposes 11.5% Rate Hike

The New York City Water Board is considering a proposal to raise rates for water by 11.5% starting on July 1, 2007. The increase is the largest increase in 15 years and follows an increase of 9.4% last year. The news that is not getting any publicity is that the Water Board is projecting annual increases of more than 11% for each of the next three years.

The NYC Water Board is holding public hearings in each of the boroughs. The Bronx hearing will be on Wednesday, April 25 at 9:30 AM at Lehman College (Carmen Hall, b-34).

The rate hike will directly affect homeowners and building owners, and will likely affect renters as well, as increases in operating costs get passed down to tenants in the form of larger annual rent hikes approved by the Rent Guidelines Board.

The Hearing schedule for all boroughs can be found here. Call Kevin Kunkle at 718-595-3601 to register for the hearing.

1 comment:

  1. Those of us interested in the preservation of affordable housing need to use this rate hearing season as a means to raise public attention about the serious impact of such increases on affordability. The hearings are a means of getting attention on the issue.

    We are urging individuals and groups to a) testify at the public hearings against the increases; b) provide specific examples of properties affected by the rate increases; c) demand a Water Summit convening community organizations, banks, and the real estate sector along with the various parts of City government involved with water and housing to talk about the impact of water on affordability; d) try to get press coverage for your testimony; and e) contact your City Council representative to ask them to hold Council hearings about the water rates and their impact on housing affordability.

    UNHP has identified affordable properties that will be in financial danger if the projected water increases come to pass. We also submitted to DEP examples of how the projected water rate hikes will require major increases in City subsidy to allow the affordable housing projects in the New Housing Marketplace to meet bond financing requirements. Many organizations in the nonprofit and private sectors have similar stories to tell. Now’s the time.

    ReplyDelete

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