The city’s much-ballyhooed Water Tunnel No. 3 is finally in service — and now the financial floodgate is about to open.
City homeowners and businesses will likely be hit with a still-unspecified water increase next summer–on top of the 5.6% hike that took effect this summer and the 7% hike that kicked in the previous year.
Overall, water bills have gone up 78% since 2005, featuring double-digit annual spikes in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. By comparison, the latest fees are modest, city officials said.
“We want the rate increase that goes into effect next July to be smaller than before,” said Steve Lawitts, the chief financial officer of the Department of Environmental Protection.
If taxpayers are feeling soaked, here’s why: The city took in a record $3.3 billion in water invoices during the fiscal year that ended in July — up from the $2.1 billion collected in 2008.
City environmental honchos insist the added revenue is needed to meet new federal safety mandates and help push forward huge upgrades to the city’s aging water and sewer systems. That includes the massive water tunnel and the Croton Water Filtration Plant, which is responsible for 10% of the city’s average daily water usage.
But critics point out a portion of the massive increases drowning homeowners goes toward paying off debt from the 1970s fiscal crisis.
“For decades, the water system only charged customers what it needed to cover its costs,” mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio said earlier this year. “But now, anyone who pays a water bill is sending more and more of their money into the city’s general budget. It’s wrong and it has to stop.”
The average single-family homeowner now pays $991 per year for H20 — up from $554 in 2005.
De Blasio and others contend the rate hikes are a stealth tax.
“When the mayor says he hasn’t raised taxes, he’s really only talking about the taxes you can see. In truth, homeowners and businesses are getting socked again and again with hidden taxes like these water rate hikes,” the Democratic candidate said.
But as the city touts the increased revenues, homeowners are still furious they’re getting drenched — and the new automated water meter readers remain at the heart of the controversy.
The devices, which cost $252 million to develop and install, are designed to more accurately measure the amount of water each household uses.
The city insists the meters are doing a better job of calculating how much water each homeowner actually uses and notifying them of costly leaks.
Previously, 17% of the city’s 836,000 water customers received estimated bills that were based on prior use and other factors because city staffers were unable to get inside to read the meters.
Now, just 3% of bills are estimated, and the city is working to eliminate that number completely by installing automated readers in large buildings in Manhattan over the next three years.
Environmental officials say there have been some hiccups with the new system, but insists that’s largely because prior estimated bills were too low, and an occasionally leaky toilet which often goes unnoticed for days.
And the 4,306 appeals filed last year is a six-year low, records show.
rblau@nydailynews.com
