Special 4-Part Report: Preparing Your 2013 Budget. Part 2: Water, Payroll

e number of units in the building. Those properties instead will go to what the city is calling the Multifamily Conservation Program (MCP), which will charge $894.15 per dwelling unit per year.

Most condos and co-ops are on metered rates — not the flat-rate frontage — says Alan Rothschild, a water consultant and owner of the Vantage Group. But if your building is one of the few on that program, you will see more of an increase. Rothschild estimates that the buildings on frontage pay about $800 to $825 per unit, per year. The boost from that amount to $894.15 can be almost 12 percent. The increase in metered rates is less than what Rothschild was expecting. He notes that the last five years of increases ranged from 9.4 percent to 14.5 percent.

Payroll

For the most part, payroll expenses are a set commodity that most boards can predict. Minimum wage rates for full-time, 40-hour-per-week staff in Class A buildings, which includes most condo and co-op buildings, went up in April to $22.94 for handymen/women and $20.77 for other employees, according to Maia Davis, spokeswoman for the union, SEIU 32BJ. It will stay at that rate for a year. In April 2013 it goes up to $23.57 for handypersons and $21.34 for other workers.

Other General Expenses

One wild card in the general expenses column is the 17.5 percent tax abatement granted to most condo and co-op owners as part of the New York City Co-op and Condo Property Tax Abatement. If the abatement is eliminated, that could leave buildings with less income.

Part 1: The Current Status of New York City Property Taxes

This afternoon: The Outlook for Your 2013 Insurance Bills

Thursday morning: What to Expect in 2013 Fuel Costs

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