Council Member James F. Gennaro Calls on NYC Water Board to Demand Mayor Adams End 'Hidden' $1.4B

 

The Mayor Plans to Divert More Than $1.4B in Revenue from New Yorkers’ Water and Sewer Charges Over the Next Four Years in a Hidden Tax to Balance the City Budget. This Diversion of Funds will Raise Water Rates 36% 0ver the Next Four Years, Not Accounting for Additional Water Rate Increases to Fund DEP’s Legitimate Need to Fund a Build-Out of the City’s Sewer System to Protect the City from Flooding Due to More Intense and More Frequent Rain Storms

Council Member James F. Gennaro, Chair of the New York City Council's Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency, & Waterfronts, passionately confronted the New York City Water Board at yesterday's public hearing on the new proposed water rate for Fiscal Year 2025. Gennaro is deeply disturbed by the Mayor’s plan to divert more than $1.4B in revenue from New Yorkers’ water and sewer charges over the next four years in a "hidden tax" to help balance the city budget. As a result, the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is proposing that the Water Board approve an 8.5 percent water rate increase this summer, passing this cost onto New York City ratepayers. This proposed rate increase would double last year’s rate hike and make it the highest rate hike in over a decade, financially burdening all New Yorkers, but most especially our most vulnerable populations.

 

The Council Member noted that while the Water Board cannot deny the Mayor the so-called ‘rental payment’ if the mayor requests it, they can make a statement on behalf of ratepayers and protest the hidden tax. He also noted that it is their moral duty to look out for the best interests of New York City ratepayers.

 

"This is your moment. You are the only entity that doesn't have an ulterior motive and whose only mission is to protect the rate payers of New York City," Gennaro said to the Water Board. "Now, legally, you can't deny the Mayor his money, but you can make a statement. You can resign."

 

"I am demanding that this board do whatever it can. Resign, make a statement and make sure that this atrocity does not go forward in the future," he said as he pounded on the podium.

 

As reported by the New York Times, “How a ‘Hidden’ $1.4 Billion Tax Will Make N.Y.C. Water Bills Rise (May 3, 2024),’” the average single family New York City homeowner pays $1,088 a year for water. Landlords pay for water but pass along the costs to tenants. The proposed increase would cost approximately another $93 a year. But low-income New Yorkers pay more as a share of income than wealthier New Yorkers.

 

This "backdoor tax" has been around for decades but was done away with by Bill de Blasio seven years ago. Facing fiscal woes in a post-COVID and migrant crisis era, Mayor Adams is resurrecting this hidden tax – and with little transparency.

 

"When people pay their water and sewer bill, they expect that money is going toward water and sewer. It's not. It's going to all the other agencies," the Council Member argued. "For once, act like a real regulator and put the interest of the ratepayers first and make sure when [they] pay their water and sewer bill it goes to water and sewer."

To watch Council Member Gennaro's full testimony at the Water Board meeting last night, click here.

To download the Council Member's submitted testimony, click here.

All content courtesy of Council Member James F. Gennaro's office.