When It Comes to Water Rates, All Is Not Doom & Gloom
Jan. 26, 2015 — Annual water rate increases in New York City were in the low single digits a dozen years ago: prices rose by one percent in 2001 and by three percent in 2002. Then, in a terrible piece of timing, annual rate increases soared into double digits just as the Great Recession was reaching its terrible depths. In 2008 the increase was 11.5 percent; the following three years saw increases of 14.5 percent, 12.9 percent, and 12.9 percent. Just like that, water had become a major and growing expense when many buildings could least afford it.
Officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Water Board offered a variety of explanations that did little to mollify New Yorkers suddenly faced with staggering water bills. The officials blamed everything from neglected infrastructure to unfunded federal mandates. There is a lot of expensive work going on, including the construction of a $2.8 billion filtration plant, a $1.4 billion ultraviolet disinfection facility, and the ongoing work on the $6 billion Tunnel No. 3 that will supplement the city's two existing water tunnels, which were built in 1917 and 1936 and are expected to need major work in the future. That work will be addressed once Tunnel No. 3 is completed.
Waste Not, Pay Not
"The bottom line for boards and property managers is that they have to be diligent in making sure there's no wasted water," says Steve Greenbaum, the director of property management with Mark Greenberg Real Estate. "What we're doing is being very diligent that there are no leaks in faucets, toilets, and showerheads. We speak about it all the time at annual meetings. We want to educate rather than control."
The super routinely checks apartments for leaky plumbing fixtures, and all apartments have converted to water-conserving fixtures.
Sometimes shareholders balk at repairing leaks. When that happens, the board acts. "We take a very aggressive approach," says Greenbaum. "If they refuse to do the repair, we do it and then bill them for it."
Good News
Despite all the gloom and doom, there's actually some good news about water in New York City. In fact, this story has a happy ending, sort of. The double-digit annual rate increases that arrived with the last recession are finally moderating. This fiscal year the increase was 3.4 percent, less than half of what was expected.
There were several reasons for this, including low interest rates that reduced DEP's debt service, improved revenue collection, created fewer estimated bills and billing disputes, and saw the installation of a total of more than 800,000 automated water meters.
But that doesn't mean co-op and condo boards are off the hook. When it comes to monitoring water use and avoiding waste, vigilance will be required for many years to come. Which is a gentle way of saying forever.
Adapted from "Water Vigilance" by Bill Morris (Habitat, January 2015)
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