New York Water Board Hearings & Testimonies
The City's proposal for 3.35% water and sewer rate increase will be the subject of the New York Water Board's public hearings over the next 10 days. The dates are below. The Mayor made a number of other billing proposals, and they are included in this link. We are urging you to make a comment, either in person or by email, to the Water Board, and copy the Mayor and your City Council person.
If you look at the Water Board’s Rate Presentation Page on average water charges, it might serve as a basis for a comment from you and your organization. According to DEP, the average multi-family metered charge will be $666 per apartment per year. The Multi-family Conservation Program (MCP) cap will now be $976 per apartment per year. At UNHP, we have yet to meet a manager of an apartment building with 1, 2 or 3 Bedroom apartments with metered charges of $666 per apartment. Many are in the MCP cap program and will experience the increase to $976.
The increase is the lowest increase in 9 years and there is an opportunity here to try to build on this good news. In UNHP's testimony, UNHP is opposing any rate increase and is calling on the City to work on developing a more equitable policy for setting rates.
The links to the City Council and Mayor are here and here.
You can follow our updates on UNHP's Twitter and Blog.
To speak at one of the hearings below, you can call or email Kevin Kunkle 718-595-3601 or kkunkle@dep.nyc.gov:
Brooklyn - May 14, Visitor Center at Newtown Creek
329 Greenpoint Avenue, 7:00 pm
Bronx - May 15, Hutchinson Metro Center, Conference Center
1200 Waters Place, 7:00 pm
Manhattan - May 16, NYC Dept of City Planning
22 Reade St, Spector Hall, 1:30 pm
Staten Island - May 19, Joan and Alan Bernikow JCC
1466 Manor Road, 7:30 pm
Queens - May 20, Bayswater Jewish Center
2355 Healy Avenue, Far Rockaway, 7:00 pm