Just short of a week ago, Supreme Justice Carol Edmead voided the Water Board and City Hall’s authority to impose a water rate hike for this year as well as terminated the program to reimburse small homeowners on their water bill credit.
Citing unfair and preferential distribution of funds, the city of New York and the Water Board were stopped in their tracks by the people of New York.
Thanks should be given to Joseph Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association who fought against City Hall and the Water Board for this win for the people of New York.
Further applause should be given to Justice Edmead who is protecting the taxpayers of New York and our fragile water system from the greedy hands of politicians.
On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead declared that NYC Water Board will not have the authority to raise the water rate for fiscal year 2017. This motion froze and voided the Water Board’s authority to raise the cost of water by 2.1% and eliminates de Blasio’s homeowners’ water credit reimbursement program.
Immediately following the decision, the City has decided to appeal this order.
The judge’s final decision came after retaliation from Rent Stabilization Association members and various landlords who ordered that the actions of the Water Board and City Hall were inequitable. The water credit program favored small homeowners and excluded apartment, property, co-op, and condo owners.
According to court papers, Justice Edmead decided that the reimbursement program violated and surpassed the boundaries of the Water Board’s authority.
Members of the Rent Stabilization Association and several landlords sued the New York City Water Board over decisions made to increase the water-rate and to give a 183 dollar bill-credit to homeowners, as reported by the NY Daily News.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection’s website, the projected water rate increase for this fiscal year beginning in July is 2.1 percent. The water rate has increased over 3 times since Mayor de Blasio took over City Hall.
Over backlash from landlords and the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) cited unfair and discriminating actions, the RSA and landlords sued the NYC Water Board and DEP. According to a report from the NY Daily News, the RSA and landlords claimed that the 2.1 percent increase was “arbitrary, capricious and abuse of the board’s authority”.
The landlords claimed this action to be unfair since that they would be forced to charge their tenants more for water while small homeowners were granted leniency with the projected bill credit. In addition, RSA claimed that the unfair distribution of the water credit was to benefit de Blasio’s political reputation, as reported by the NY Daily News.
As of last Tuesday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead declared a temporary restraining order to prevent the NYC Water Board and the DEP from moving forward to implement their plan.
Dressed in an ash grey suit with a periwinkle tie, Mayor Bill de Blasio exclaimed, “Today we are righting (sic) a wrong”. Back in late April in Bay Ridge, Mayor de Blasio developed a plan for New York City homeowners to save money on their water bills by having the city present a one-time water credit to all homeowners within the five boroughs.
“This is part of an overall effort to address the needs of everyday working people all over the city to make sure that what city does is fair,” proclaimed de Blasio.
The push for this proposal was de Blasio’s belief that homeowners within the five boroughs were paying too much for their water bills. Backed by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Commissioner Emily Lloyd, de Blasio proposed a $183 one-time water bill credit to all homeowners with one to three family units within the five boroughs.
According to de Blasio, the proposed bill would cover about 664,000 homeowners for the summer. The 664,000 homeowners make up about 80 percent of all water bill accounts. With this one-time bill credit, homeowners can save 17 to 40 percent on their annual water bill.
Seniors who make up 120,000 of the total amount of homeowners residing in the city will also benefit greatly from an additional bill credit.
“This action we are announcing today will save homeowners across all five boroughs a total of 82 million dollars in fiscal year 2016, the fiscal year we are in right now. Eighty-two million,” said de Blasio.
According to the DEP, this credit program has already passed water board committee members and will be in effect as of July 1st. This is the first step in a series of changes the mayor is attempting to put into effect for water use policies.
Water Watch NYC 