New York residents can rejoice as the city is proposing just a 2.1 percent hike on water rates, the lowest increase in the past 16 years.
The proposal includes provisions that benefit homeowners belonging to low-income families.
Still, not everyone is happy after concerns over the general fund and nonexistent plans on water system improvement were raised.
The city is also recommending [pdf] that those who consume less than 100 gallons a day should have even lower rates.
New York city Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Emily Lloyd said that the lower annual payment to the City Hall general fund and reduction of internal costs, such as interest rates savings should be credited for the reduced hike.
New York City Council member Rory Lancman acknowledges that it may be the lowest hike in a long time but it is still difficult for the pocket. Compared to 10 years ago, homeowners are still paying double from $499 in 2005 to $1,058 last year.
The councilman expressed that the city would greatly appreciate if the general fund will be used for the improvement of the city's water system. Lancman shared that homeowners would not mind paying higher rates if they see that improvements are made.
Every year, the city gets about $3.7 billion from water rates to go to the general fund. This fund is supposedly a "rental payment" for the infrastructure that the city built and is now leasing to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Lancman reasoned that the $35 million payment was justifiable but he feels that the city is taking more.
Mayor de Blasio, when he was still campaigning, said that the increased rental payment is wrong and promised that he would do something about it. Now, the de Blasio administration is taking it step-by-step - abolishing rental payment should be done in increments to prevent shocking the budget. According to the Independent Budget Office, the city budget for the 2017 fiscal year has a $490 million surplus.
Amy Spitalnick, de Blasio's spokeswoman, said water rates have considerably gone down every year since the Mayor took office.
"Last year, Mayor de Blasio took the unprecedented step of committing to end the rental payment through a phase-out that reduces the payment 10 percent more each year," said Spitalnick. "In FY16, the payment was reduced by 40 percent; in today's FY17 proposal it would be reduced by 50 percent; and that will continue until it's fully phased out."
DEP said [pdf] that they are presently working on programs and additional infrastructures that would greatly improve water services in the city. In the next 10 years, DEP is planning to invest on a $16.9 billion in a system-wide water and wastewater infrastructure.
+Pool, a floating self-filtering pool, made its way to New York's waterways. The pool acts as a giant water filter that draws river water through its walls to sift contaminants out of the water. The team led by Architect Dong-Ping Wong is currently in talks with the DEP and other regulatory agencies to seek help in monitoring and maintenance.
Photo: Andy Mudrak | Flickr
