Exclusive | NYC pols push to protect water bill deadbeats –

The City Council is pushing legislation that would make it harder for authorities to collect from deadbeats who owe tens of thousands of dollars on their water bills, Big Apple regulators say.

The bill being considered by the council could also potentially trigger water bill hikes on Big Apple owners who pay on time in order to make up the lost revenue, according to the city Department of Environmental Protection, which runs the system.

“Our water system depends on people paying their water bills. When some people don’t pay, everyone else must make up the difference — or DEP must invest less in the system,” said DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.

The Council is holding a hearing on the series of bills Thursday, including one proposed by Speaker Adrienne Adams, to scrap lien sales on the debt of outstanding tax or water bills.

A lien is a legal claim against property for unpaid property taxes, water bills or other charges.

The sale transfers the unpaid liens to a buyer, or lienholder, who can begin foreclosure proceedings on the property in court if the taxes and/or charges are not paid.

DEP said even the threat of lien sales is a valuable stick that forces water bill delinquents to pay up.

“Without enforcement, people stop paying — and not only because they can’t afford to, but because they realize there’s no consequence if they don’t,” Aggarwala said.

He even cited a case of a delinquent property owner who refused to pay the water bill while brazenly installing a swimming pool at the residence.

“We had one case where a household stopped paying their water bills for several years while at the same time putting in a swimming pool. They only paid when we threatened a water shut off,” he said.

DEP has the ability to shut off the water, but it doesn’t do so in a building where the landlord has other tenants.

Leading up to this year’s June lien sale, city officials sent out 500,000 mailings, made 77,000 phone calls, and did 6,500 doorknocks.

In the end, only 0.1% of all DEP customers ultimately had a lien sold — just one in a thousand, Aggarwala said.

But the threat of losing property helped generate $374 million in overdue revenue — $180 million in payments, $172 million in payment agreements, and $22 million from the lien sale itself, according to the DEP commissioner.

“That’s the point: the threat of the lien sale works. It motivates payment, keeps rates fair, and maintains the integrity of the water system,” Aggarwala said.

The DEP provided examples of past delinquent property owners who paid up after learned they were on the lien sale or on a water shut-off list.

The city Office of Management and Budget estimates that the City Council bills under consideration could reduce DEP’s annual revenues by $105 to $150 million.

To make up that loss, DEP said it has two options postponing capital improvements or raising the rates for water bills for all customers.

“To make up for the revenue this set of legislation may put at jeopardy could require a mid-year rate increase or an additional increase over and above the 7% forecast for FY 2027,” the commissioner said.

The city Water Board, which sets rates, is meeting next week, to discuss how to proceed if the Council passes the bills, as is expected.

The Council defended the legislation to protect owners from losing their homes..

“For decades, the tax lien sale has been a singularly focused enforcement tool that has disproportionately led Black, Latino, and Asian New Yorkers to lose their hard-earned homes and assets,” a Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours.

“This has a major cost on the economic health and safety of our city and its neighborhoods that too many of the bureaucrats in mayoral administrations have callously disregarded. These proposed reforms simply require the entity dealing with liens to be accountable to the well-being of New Yorkers instead of profits.”

The Council rep added, “We can collect taxes and water payments without destroying wealth in Black and brown communities experiencing historic racial wealth gaps. It’s past time for the City to move away from this short-sighted approach to implement a real pathway that supports homeowners in resolving debts and ensures foreclosed properties serve a housing or community purpose rather than becoming blights in neighborhoods.”