Water Tax Collections Out Of Control, Gennaro, Weprin Charge
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Councilmember Gennaro, addressing panel, emphasized the regressive nature of the rate formula by noting that a middleclass family of five who doesn't dine out on a regular basis uses a lot more water- and therefore pays much higher water bills- than, for example, a wealthy couple who dines out all the time and takes long vacations.

At a time when many New Yorkers are having trouble just trying to make ends meet, property owners should not be facing a 14.5 percent water rate increase so closely following the double digit rate increase imposed last year, two Queens councilmembers declared a a press conference at City Hall on Sunday.

"This is an out-of-control situation that is just going to get worse over time," Councilmember James Gennaro stated. Along with Councilmember David Weprin, he has charged that a large share of water taxes are diverted to the city budget General Fund by the Bloomberg administration.

"The administration should get its hands out of the pockets of water bill-paying New Yorkers and commit to using the revenues collected from water bills for water and sewer projects only," Gennaro declared.

Weprin, whose Finance Committee held a special meeting on the proposed rate hike on Monday, warned on Sunday, "The hope of tax relief or any financial relief, is being threatened by the rise of cost of goods like gasoline, electricity, food and rent; now we have to add the threat of a water rate increase to the list- again. These double-digit hikes must stop."

Weprin (D- Hollis) showed a graph which illustrated water rate hikes rising disproportionately since 2002 compared to the cost of living in the city.

The graph showed that in 2006 the water rate went up 9.4 percent, nearly four times the cost of living, which went up only 2.9 percent, Weprin noted.

Last year, water bills went up by 11.5 percent, Weprin said.

Both Gennaro (D- Fresh Meadows), chair of the Environmental Protection Committee, and Weprin have called on the Bloomberg administration to put an end to diverting water income to the General Fund.

The rate increase proposed last month for 2008 would send $89 million collected from property owners' water bills to the city General Fund, the lawmakers said. That would be about onethird of the proposed water rate increase, they said.

"Clearly, there are still problems with how money is collected and not collected and we will have the administration answer to New Yorkers as to why they are being penalized and being asked to subsidize the 15 percent [of property owners] who fail to pay their bills," Weprin said.

Adding his voice to the chorus of protests, Councilmember Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) pointed out: "Our sewers can absorb 1.5 inches of rainstorm per hour; the storms last July and August forced four inches of rain into our sewers per hour and disaster struck. In addition, our seepage basins are inoperable and only contribute to more flooding. Southeast Queens, for example, has been the subject of flood drainage studies for over a decade, but the funding for the sewers we have been promised have gone to fund the Newtown Creek pollution control plant, the Croton filtration plant and the Delaware ultraviolet light water disinfection plant. Given these two most recent, glaring examples of the city's inability to address issues surrounding water, it just doesn't quite make sense to me how the Water Board can justify a 14.5 percent rate hike.

"The Mayor's recently released Executive Budget indicates the city would spend $401.3 million by 2012 for sewers in underserved areas in Staten Island and Queens. We pay our water and sewer taxes in Queens- we must have the projects that will prevent further damage to its infrastructure."