NYC water bills will soar 8.5% under ‘hidden’ $1.4B tax buried in Adams budget

Mayor Eric Adams plans to implement what critics claim is a “hidden tax” that would make homeowners’ water bills soar 8.5% – despite boasting his new budget plan won’t include more taxes.

The city plans to charge its own Water Board at least $1.4 billion in rent over four years to lease water and sewer systems, The New York Times first reported.

In turn, the city’s Department of Environmental Protection wants the Water Board to raise rates in July for homeowners and landlords by 8.5%, according to a proposal released Friday by the board.

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If approved, the rate increase would only cover some of the rent charges, with the rest likely picked up by funds that usually cover water and sewer system capital project upgrades.

Owners of single-family homes pay $1,088 on average for water each year, and the proposal would add on nearly another $100 a year, according to the city.

Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens), who chairs the Committee on Environmental Protection, said the city is bringing back a “hidden tax” that was implemented in 1985 and used for decades until then-Mayor Bill de Blasio discarded it seven years ago.

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He added the old “budget trick” might be legal — but it doesn’t make it fair.

“It’s using water and sewer monies to pay for parts of city government and services that have nothing to do with water and sewers,” he told The Post Saturday.

Landlords usually pay for water but pass along the cost to tenants in their monthly rents, making the plan nothing more than a regressive tax that will ultimately hurt low-income households the most since, they historically use more water than average New Yorkers, according to critics.

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Adams last month released a $111.6 billion executive budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that restores many previously slashed services, despite pandemic aid dropping and soaring costs to deal with the city’s migrant crisis .

Liz Garcia, a mayoral spokeswoman, defended the plan, saying the Big Apple has the lowest water rates compared to other major cities in the United States and it “continues to lead the nation in keeping water rates low.”

She also claimed New Yorkers won’t notice the Water Board’s likely reduction in financing long-term repairs.

“We are investing billions of dollars in large-scale capital improvements over the next decade to enhance our water and sewage systems and make drainage upgrades, all while making sure that working-class New Yorkers — particularly low-income and senior residents — pay affordable rates,” she said.

“We will continue our commitment to delivering low costs for high-quality water to New Yorkers while making critical upgrades to our city’s infrastructure.”

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