City Is Stepping Up Effort To Collect Unpaid Water Dues

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To aid in the effort to collect approximately $600 million in unpaid water bills, Bloomberg administration officials say they need the authority to place liens on properties whose owners have not paid their bills.

The city’s budget director, Mark Page, said the revenue stream from water bills is essential to the success of the city’s borrowing program.

“If we don’t manage this one competently, it’s not just going to damage people’s confidence in water revenue bonds. It is going to damage people’s confidence in all of the other vehicles that we use to access the credit markets,” he said yesterday, while testifying before the City Council.

He later added that putting properties on track for a lien sale “has a very curative effect in terms of how many people pay.”

The city’s Water Board has proposed raising water rates by 18%, after raising rates by 11.5% earlier this year, but the proposed increase could be deferred if the city gets the authority to place liens, the commissioner for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, Emily Lloyd, said.

Several council members voiced opposition to the proposal yesterday, saying the city can use other methods to collect on unpaid bills. The council must approve the lien sales before they can be used.

Council Member James Gennaro of Queens, one of the leading members opposed to the proposed rate increase, said the city still is in need of an accurate water billing system.

Council Member David Weprin said the Department of Environmental Protection has been plagued with poor customer service, inaccurate and ineffective billing methods, and a low collection rate.

The city also is exploring other ways to collect due payments. In early November, the department is giving homeowners a one-time chance to settle their unpaid bills without late fees. Those who do not pay up will be scheduled to have their water shut off.

Ms. Lloyd said that although threatening to turn off water service has been successful in compelling some property owners to pay their bills, the lien sales still are needed.

She said the threat of a water shutdown would not be a suitable for the owner of an apartment building, because tenants who have no control over their landlord’s bill payments would suffer and need to be evacuated from the building if the landlord did not pay promptly.


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