Are Your Water Bills What They Should Be?

If you’re a homeowner in the area (or just plain well-informed about costs of utilities in NYC), you already know the Department of Environmental Protection just hiked water prices up by 5.6% in July. The year before that, water went up 7%, and another 5.6% increase is being considered come July 2014. However, District 44 Councilmember David Greenfield is asking the city not to increase the price of water next year until current problems with automated meter readings are resolved.

“Since 2005,” a statement from Greenfield’s camp says, “water bills have increased 78 percent, including double digit increases in four straight years from 2008 to 2011… the average water bill for a single-family home is now nearly $1,000 a year – up from $554 just five years ago.”

It goes on to say Greenfield has received a large amount of complaints from constituents who believe they’ve been overcharged for water since the $250 million meter installation project in 2009. He is asking the DEP to conduct a full audit and resolve billing issues before increasing water prices again.

“Frankly,” says Greenfield, “there are two major issues here – the fact that rates have been increased by this administration far above what is needed simply to cover the costs of providing water to the public, and the fact that some of these new meters must be faulty or broken.”

So, how fair do you think water rates are in NYC? And if your home is equipped with an automated meter, have your bills seemed accurate?

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