May 16, 2023

NYC’s Cost of Water Remains Well Below the National Average; New Rate Kept Low Thanks to Amnesty Water Bill Program Which Brought in More Than $80 Million to Offset Costs

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) has proposed a 4.42 percent increase in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) water rate during a presentation to the New York City Water Board. The proposed rate would keep the cost of water in New York City well below the national average, and increase by less than inflation, and will be used to help fund critical infrastructure and resilience projects.

The proposed rate is subject to review and approval by the Water Board. As always, there will be a public hearing in each of the five boroughs to receive input.

The proposal includes a reauthorization of the funding expansion and customer assistance programs the Water Board sponsors for middle income residential property owners and for affordable multi-family apartment buildings, two programs that benefit as many as 96,000 smaller property owners and 48,000 affordable apartment units, respectively. In addition, the proposal recommends maintaining the minimum charge at $1.27 per day; the minimum charge is a rate that applies to properties that demonstrate very efficient water usage.

“Coming out of the pandemic, many New Yorkers were struggling to pay their bills but more than 100,000 customers have taken advantage of our one-time water bill amnesty program to get back on track,” said DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “It is due to those accounts being brought up to date, in addition to effective management of DEP’s operations and the system’s balance sheet, that we are able to fully fund the City’s critical drinking water and wastewater systems while keeping the cost of water in New York City well below the national average.”

Among major projects being funded to increase resilience include the $1.6 billion Combined Sewer Overflow Retention Tanks for the Gowanus Canal, the $1 billion repair of the Delaware Aqueduct, the build-out of a comprehensive drainage system for Southeast Queens, the construction of thousands of additional Green Infrastructure installations, and the excavation of the final shafts for the Brooklyn/Queens leg of City Water Tunnel No. 3.

DEP’s water bill amnesty program has brought in more than $80 million and saved New Yorkers millions in interest they would have paid on late bills. The program runs until May 31.

NYC Water Rates are Below the Average of Large U.S. Cities

NYC water rates are approximately 21 percent below the average for the thirty largest U.S. cities, as measured using typical single-family residential water usage of 70,000 gallons/year.

What the Proposed Rate Would Mean for an Average Customer

If the 4.42 percent water rate increase is adopted by the Board:

• A typical single-family homeowner will see an increase from $1,041/year to $1,088/year for water and sewer bills – an increase of $3.84/month (based on an average consumption of 70,000 gallons of water per year).
• A typical multi-family unit with metered billing will see an increase from $773/year/unit to $808/year/unit – an increase of $2.85/month (based on an average consumption of 52,000 gallons of water per year).

Keeping Our Water Affordable

DEP is focused on maintaining a package of rates and billing policies that keep costs at a reasonable level for customers facing affordability challenges. A number of billing policies emphasizing rate affordability are included in the proposed package of rates and policies for FY24:

• The Home Water Assistance Program would be reauthorized at its expanded funding level, reflecting the increased bill credit amount of $145 that would continue to be made available to up to 96,000 low income households. Customers do not need to apply or take other action to receive the credit, since DEP and the Water Board work with other governmental entities to identify eligible properties.
• The Multifamily Water Assistance Program, which provides a bill credit of $250 per affordable residential unit, would be reauthorized at its expanded funding level and be made available to up to 48,000 units located in multifamily properties with at least fifteen years remaining on a rental affordability agreement with either the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development or the NYC Housing Development Corporation. The revised ranking formula that allocates credits by assigning a preference to the most affordable units, based on area median income, would continue to be used under the FY24 proposed package of rates and programs.
• Freezing the minimum charge. Customers who demonstrate highly efficient levels of water use would continue to be billed at an unchanged minimum water and wastewater charge of $1.27 per day. For customers billed at the minimum charge, the annual water and sewer bill is $463.

Rate Hearings

The Water Board is responsible for considering and adopting water and wastewater rates following the proposal and subsequent public hearings. The New York City Water Board will be holding public hearings in each of the five boroughs on the proposed rates in accord with its traditional in-person meeting format for the upcoming FY24 water rate proposal:

• Wednesday, May 24 at 6:00pm: Staten Island (Bernikow JCC, 1466 Manor Road)
• Thursday, May 25 at 6:00pm: Queens (JFK Jr. School, 57-12 94th Street)
• Tuesday, May 30 at 2:00pm: Manhattan (NYC OMB offices, 255 Greenwich Street, 8th Floor)
• Wednesday, May 31 at 6:00pm: Brooklyn (Saint Francis College, 179 Livingston Street, 5th Floor)
• Thursday, June 1 at 6:00pm: Bronx (Mercy College, 1200 Waters Place)

The public is welcome to submit written testimony or comments to the Board by email at nycwaterboard@dep.nyc.gov, or by mail to NYC Water Board, 59-17 Junction Blvd., 8th Floor, Flushing, NY 11373. Following the public hearings, the Water Board is scheduled to meet on June 6, 2023 at 9:15 a.m. to consider and adopt an FY24 budget and water and wastewater rates; the new rates would become effective on July 1, 2023.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing approximately 1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water each day to more than 9 million residents, including approximately 8.3 million in New York City. The water is delivered from a watershed that extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five boroughs, and 7,500 miles of sewer lines and 96 pump stations take wastewater to 14 in-city treatment plants. DEP has an authorized headcount of nearly 6,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 in the upstate watershed. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program, with a planned $31.1 billion in investments over the next 10 years that will create or support more than ten thousand construction-related, professional service, and allied administrative and other jobs. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.