Public Notice

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT in accordance with Section 1045-j (3) and 1045-j (9a) of the New York State Public Authorities Law, on April 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27, 2012, the New York City Water Board (the “Board”) will hold public hearings concerning proposed rates and charges for the use of, or services furnished, rendered or made available by the water and wastewater system of the City of New York (the “City”) and changes to other rates, fees, charges and billing policies to be incorporated into the Board’s Rate Schedule effective July 1, 2012.

• Rate Proposal Hearing Presentation - Fiscal Year 2013 (pdf)

The hearings will be held as follows:

I. It is anticipated that currently effective water rates and wastewater charges will increase for services provided in fiscal year 2013, commencing July 1, 2012.

1. Metered and unmetered water rates will increase by 7%.
2. Wastewater charges will remain at 159% of water charges.

II. In addition, the Board will consider the following billing program and miscellaneous fee proposals:

1. The Multiple-family Conservation Program (MCP) will be amended to include automatic enrollment of qualifying residential properties of four or more units that were billed through June 30, 2012 on the basis of Part II – Section 2, Part VI – Section 6 or Part VI – Section 7 of the New York City Water Board Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule Effective July 1, 2011 that have not had charges imposed on the basis of Part II – Section 3 of such rate schedule.  Such properties’ billing basis will be converted to the MCP fixed-charge per unit as of July 1, 2012.  Such automatically enrolled properties will have grace periods until January 1, 2014 to comply with MCP requirements to install approved meter(s) and until June 30, 2015 to install high-efficiency plumbing fixtures. The proposed MCP rates are $894.15 per residential dwelling unit, $736.13 per low-consumption commercial unit and $253.56 per boarder, roomer or lodger unit.
2. A Service Line Protection Policy Program is expected to be implemented in fiscal year 2013, with policies available to residential customers with a water service line of 2” or less for annual rates of up to $47.88 per water service line and $95.88 per sewer service line.
3. The Service Call fee for an inspection at the request of a customer where the complaint is found to be outside the jurisdiction of the Board will be increased from $75 up to a maximum of $450 to reflect the cost of service.

All hearings are open to the public.  Anyone may attend or register to speak at any borough hearing, regardless of the borough in which s/he resides or in which his/her property is located.  Those who wish to testify at a hearing should contact Diane Easparro, New York City Water Board, 59-17 Junction Boulevard, 8th Floor, Flushing, NY 11373, Telephone (718) 595-3591, email: deasparro@dep.nyc.gov to register no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the hearing s/he wishes to attend.  Oral testimony will be limited to five (5) minutes duration.  A copy of any prepared or written statement may be submitted for the Board’s consideration at the above mailing or email address by 5:00 p.m. on April 27, 2012.  To view a presentation and draft rate schedule regarding the proposed fiscal year 2013 billing proposals, please visit www.nyc.gov/nycwaterboard.