Multifamily Water Assistance Program

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in conjunction with New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), is offering a water and sewer credit for eligible HPD- or HDC-assisted affordable multifamily housing projects. Eligible projects can receive a $250 credit per residential unit on their water and sewer bill(s).

Projects will be prioritized by lowest to highest collectable rent affordable to households earning no more than 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), as enrollment is limited. All projects (a property or cluster or properties that are covered under one HPD and/or HDC regulatory agreement that is recorded on ACRIS) over 4 units are eligible to participate in the Program; however, if a private-site project consists of more than 2,000 units, only 2,000 units of a project will receive credits. The agencies reserve the right to prioritize high-need projects should program demand exceed the enrollment cap.

Note: While the AMI threshold for the program is 60% of AMI, the program prioritizes projects from lowest to highest AMI. Given the limited number of credits DEP can offer each year, the program is typically oversubscribed and the AMI cutoff since the establishment of the program has been less than 50% of AMI. Last year’s AMI cutoff was 37% of AMI.

The deadline to apply is January 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM.

Submit an Application:

You can apply for the FY24 Multifamily Water Assistance Program cycle here.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the credit, all three of the eligibility criteria must be met:

1. Affordability

Rent Affordability: Average actual collectable rents (rental buildings) or maintenance fees (co-ops) for the entire project (a project is defined as all buildings covered under on ACRIS-recorded regulatory agreement or equivalent document with HPD or HDC) must be affordable to households earning up to 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), using the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template, effective as of the date of application.

Note: For an application to be considered complete, the Applicant must complete the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template for all buildings in the project, even the ones that are under 4 units.

Use Restriction: ACRIS-recorded regulatory agreement, Mitchell-Lama non-dissolution rider or equivalent document with HPD and/or HDC with a minimum of 15 years remaining in its restriction period from December 6, 2023 or the date of contract execution, whichever is later:

The regulatory agreement submitted must be the one recorded on ACRIS and include the ACRIS recording and endorsement cover page
100% of the residential units must be restricted by the HPD and/or HDC regulatory document
Projects that only have a regulatory agreement from an agency that is not HPD or HDC (i.e. HUD or HCR) are not eligible for credit
Neighborhood Restore projects are not eligible for the credit
Projects where 100% of the units are permanently affordable and, as a result, the regulatory period does not indicate an end date, there is no need to provide an end date on the application. The application will ask you to check a box stating that the regulatory agreement will be in effect in perpetuity.

2. Conservation

Buildings charged on the Multifamily Conservation Program (MCP) rate must meet the program's conservation requirements:

Have meters equipped with Automated Meter Reading (AMR) devices
Have low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucet aerators installed in at least 70% of units
Have separately metered commercial units, if required

All buildings billed on a metered basis are eligible.

3. Performance

Buildings must be current on their DEP and DOF bills or they must demonstrate that they are working with HPD or HDC Asset Management to bring the building into good standing with the City. See Q.16 under the "Application Submission" section in the FAQs below on how to demonstrate good standing.

Note: Applicants do not need to submit current DEP bills this Program cycle. DEP will be running a point-in-time check of the project's payment status to determine good standing with DEP. Applicants must still submit their most recent DOF bill(s) as evidence of good standing with DOF.

Projects are defined as a property or cluster of properties which are covered by the same HPD or HDC-issued regulatory agreement that is recorded on ACRIS. Buildings with less than 4 residential units may not receive the credit; however, rents for these buildings must be included in the HPD/HDC Rent Roll Template submitted.

Additional Resources

Contact

For any questions, please reach out to: Dara Yaskil, dyaskil@dep.nyc.gov.