Forget About Another Rate Hike, Lawmakers Tell Water Bd.
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Councilmember James Gennaro, Chair of the Council's Environmental Protection Committee, explains the Rental Payment to reporters as Councilman David Weprin (r.), Chair of the Council's Finance Committee, looks on.

City Councilmembers David Weprin and James Gennaro, who vehemently opposed the 11.4 percent water rate increase foisted upon city homeowners three months ago, are now demanding that the city Water Board abandon any plans for a new "special rate boost" of 18 percent by next January.

The board said recently the second rate hike might be necessary because there was a onemonth drop in water and sewer bill collections in September, raising speculation by the Department of Environmental Protection of a general downturn in collections.

Gennaro declared, "There is absolutely no reason for the DEP to propose a water rate hike, especially considering that it implemented an 11.4 percent rate increase just three months ago. Instead of throwing around plans of rate increases, the Water Board and DEP should focus on eliminating the rental payment and creating an efficient billing system that does not penalize punctual taxpayers for the offenses of delinquents."

Weprin agreed. The council Finance Committee chairman stated: "A rate increase is not the answer to the problems facing the DEP. The system used to collect money is clearly broken and antiquated. There are many options that the DEP can resort to in order to recoup monies owed.

"It is outrageous that an increase is even being considered when the DEP hasn't exhausted other options out there. Recouping moneys owed to them should not be done on the backs of those who pay on time. Taxpayers should not be penalized for ineptness and antiquated collection methods used by the DEP."

Demanding adamantly that the Water Board find alternatives, Gennaro (D- Fresh Meadows) said, "Before the Water Board can even consider a water rate hike, it must address and improve its inept and disorganized billing system."

In addition to pummeling the board for its ineffective collection system, the lawmakers said they also found it deplorable that the Water Board plans to increase the water rate again after it pocketed $60 million last fiscal year and will pocket almost $76 million more by the end of Fiscal Year 2008.

Weprin and Gennaro explained that the $76 million that the Water Board will collect by the end of next July (the end of Fiscal Year 2008) will go directly into the city's General Fund, as did the $60 million collected last year.

But, they say, this money should be used as funding for water and sewer projects and not diverted into the General Fund, an account that is used as revenue and is spent on everything but DEP projects.

If the Water Board put these collections, which amount to about half of the revenue raised by the FY 2008 rate increase, exclusively into water- and sewer-related projects, it would not need to repeatedly" increase the rate and ask for more money, they maintain.

The lawmakers said their bottom line message to the Water Board is: "Stop soaking the taxpayers while padding the city's budget. End the rental fees and excessive taxation now and revamp your billing system."

The same message was given to the board by a national consulting firm that spent nine months examining the board's muddled billing system at a cost of $1.8 million.

The consultant firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, found that the city is owed about $430 million on water accounts that are overdue for more than a year.

It recommended that the board should get more aggressive in its collection methods by taking action such as shutting off water and imposing liens. This could bring in about half of what is owed, the consultant firm said.