BILL NUMBER: S4820
SPONSOR: FELDER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the
public authorities law, in relation to abolishing the minimum charge for
water supply in the city of New York
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends Section 24-335 of the administrative code
of the city of New York by eliminating language for a minimum charge.
Section 2 of the bill amends Section 1045-j of the public authorities
law by adding a new subdivision 3-a which mandate that the water board
shall not impose any type of minimum charge, fee, rate or rent upon any
class of users.
Section 3 of the bill sets forth an immediate effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This law will eliminate the current city regulations which impose a
minimum charge for water service within a monthly billing period as per
New York City Rules and Regulations, Title 15, § II B. On a daily
basis, citizens of this city are faced with unrelenting cost of living
increases while many are on fixed incomes. The ever increasing costs for
everything from gasoline prices to property tax increases to the cost of
medical care and prescription medicines are making it virtually impossi-
ble for many people to financially survive.
In response to these uncontrollable costs, one of the ways in which
people try and gain some control over their monthly budgets is by
conserving their use of heating fuel, vehicle fuel, and for many, their
consumption of water. Unfortunately, because of the "minimum charge" for
metered water rates being assessed by the city, people who are conserv-
ing their water use is in effect being penalized for that conservation.
The minimum charge for water service is one of those regulations that
makes no sense and ultimately sends the wrong message to consumers. If
we are going to charge for consumption, then charge for consumption and
do not penalize those people who are trying to conserve their water
usage.
Not only can conservation help people on fixed incomes to control their
costs, but it is also an important virtue that we should all be adhering
to with the ever-increasing demands we are placing on our environment.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2015-2016:5.1095, Passed Senate both years
2017-2018:S.1266, Passed Senate both years
2019-2020:5.4830, Referred to cities
2021-2022:5.3692, Referred to cities
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To Be Determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S4820: 1045-j public authorities law