Your Water Bill is Going Up...Again!

Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after..

Up got Jack and home did trot

As fast as he could caper

He went to bed and bound his head

With vinegar and brown paper.

Jack is going to need a lot more than “vinegar and brown paper" to treat his headache by the time the New York City Water Board gets through with him!

New Yorkers will pay nearly 13 percent more for each drop of water they use starting July 1 if (make that "when") an increase proposed Friday by the Department of Environmental Protection is approved.

Surprised?  You shouldn't be. The NYC Water Board is again raising its rates this July by another 12.9 percent. This new increase represents the fourth double-digit boost in the last four years.

2007 - 11.0%

2008 - 14.5%

2009 - 14.0%

2010 - 12.9%

A friend of mine told me that these increases are a good thing, citing the need to conserve this natural resource, and recommended that I "...was just going to have to conserve my use of water to keep my bill down."

Reality Check: Keep in mind that the city's use of water has dropped dramatically over the past three years because of "conservation" and since we have been using less water, the Water Board has said they they must now hike rates to offset lost revenues.

Not unlike our fairy tale charcacters, Jack & Jill, the Water Board operates in a fantasy realm where they can continually raise water rates in the best of both worlds...

"New Yorkers using too much water? We must increase our rates to encourage conservation...",

or,

"New Yorkers conserving too much water?  We're losing revenue and we have to raise rates."

Maybe there is something to all the fuss about "Water - Boarding"!

Peter J. Mahon