Malliotakis Submits Testimony Opposing Increase to NYC Water Rates

Press Release

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) today will submit testimony to the New York City Water Board regarding its proposal to raise water rates by 4.9%, the largest increase in nearly a decade.

"This proposal could not come at a worse time," Malliotakis wrote. "New Yorkers are struggling with record high prices at the pump, skyrocketing utility bills, higher priced groceries, and burdensome costs of living. To usher in the largest water rate increase in eight years, amidst the economic turmoil we are currently facing is tone deaf, shortsighted, and wrong."

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, customers currently owe more than $750 million in unpaid water bills. In addition to the rate increase, the proposal would increase interest rates on certain properties for late payments from 5% to 18%.

Malliotakis added: "Water is a necessity, not a luxury. Like oxygen, it is a most basic element needed for survival. Our city"s leadership, in good conscience, cannot and should not raise the cost of this life necessity...I urge my local colleagues to be fiscally conservative, not continue to take from hardworking New Yorkers, who have seen the cost-of-living skyrocket while quality of life plummets."

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