Council Members Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) and James Vacca (D-Bronx) called on the Water Board of New York to delay any talks of a water rate hike until after the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) lien sale on May 19th is complete. The City Council passed legislation in December allowing DEP to sell liens on properties that owe more than $1,000 in water and sewer charges and have been overdue for a year or more. The lien sales were meant to assist in the collection of overdue charges to help increase revenue. It would be irresponsible for DEP to consider rate hikes before the results of the lien sale are finalized.

“The DEP has made great strides to collect overdue water bills and increase their revenues with recent modifications in their collection policies,” Felder said. “It is illogical to consider water rate hikes before properly analyzing the results of these recent changes. We need to evaluate the effectiveness of these changes before we burden homeowners with another water rate increase.”

“Why is it that only four months after the Council enacted a landmark law to deal with water scofflaws, we’re back in the same spot, having the same argument?” Vacca asked. “This has become a sad annual tradition, where the Water Board cries poverty and chooses to pass on endlessly rising costs to the average homeowner. It’s time for us to send a message that the Water Board’s finances must be put in order once and for all.”