Coming Soon: Another Water Rate Hike?
April 2nd, 2009
Tomorrow, water rake hikes could be on the agenda yet again, and Comptroller William Thompson is blaming the Bloomberg Administration for failing to act on an issue they knew was coming.
“It’s been a year since the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner stood before the New York City Water Board and vowed to conduct a million-dollar study to devise a better way to calculate water and sewer charges,” Thompson said earlier this week. “That review has not been completed in time to inform this year’s rate-setting process – and yet the Water Board is about to announce yet another hefty hike.”
Last year, on the eve of that increase, a number of issues were raised with the way the water system is financed. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote critics off as ambitious politicians seeking higher office, even though his ally Council Speaker Christine Quinn had problems with the system. Indeed, Thompson is now challenging the mayor for his seat. But even the Water Board needed assurance that the administration would review the rate structure before they approved it.
Emily Lloyd, the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner who promised the review, has since departed. But the city has continued working on the review, and mentioned it in a recent report on upgrading the city’s sewer systems. Just not fast enough, apparently.
By Mike Muller on April 2, 2009, 11:11 amIn category: Environment, Governing, Public Finance | No Comments »
