The NYC Water Board is expected to vote today to approve a 12.9% water rate hike. But wait, didn't they raise the prices? It certainly feels that way—this is the third double-digit rate hike in a row; the rate last went up 11.5% in 2007. Of course, the DEP had orginally proposed a 14% rate hike—which would raise an average single-family home's fees from $799 to $911 a year—so maybe we're getting off easy? According to the Daily News, the DEP was able to trim the rate hike from 14% to 12.9% because fuel costs are falling, but officials say the increase is still necessary because of 5% budget cuts the city is forcing on agencies. Councilman David Weprin (D-Queens) says, "Enough is enough. These water rate hikes have amounted to nothing more than a backdoor property tax increase." And in a statement, city Comptroller William Thompson grouses, "A 12.9 percent water rate hike is still outrageous. This reduction is a drop in the bucket and simply too little, too late... As I’ve shown, these charges are gouging New York City families and small businesses precisely at a time when they can least afford it." more ›

NYC comptroller William Thompson is proposing that the city plug the MTA's budget gap by raising automobile registration fees in the 12 counties served by the MTA’s trains and buses. If passed by the State Legislature, his plan would require drivers in the city and surrounding counties to pay $100 a year to register their vehicles. (The city currently charges $30 every two years.) According to the Times, drivers with vehicles weighing more than 2,300 pounds would have to pay an additional 9 cents per pound. By that measure, owners of Lincoln Navigators, which weigh in at 6,000 lbs., would owe the city $450 per year. Thompson says the revenue could add up to about $1 billion per year and serve as an alternative to the MTA's "devastating" budget proposal announced last week. more ›

Add water to a list of things that are becoming less affordable to New York City residents, after the municipal Water Board approved a 14.5% rate hike on the heels of an 11.5% hike just a year ago. Perhaps the $5 glass of tap water that some restaurants are now serving is more reasonable than initially suspected. The new water rates, which take effect July 1, are expected to cost single family homeowners an extra $100 a year and apartment residents almost an additional $150 a year. more ›

New York water consumers (i.e. everyone) are about to take a bath once the City's Water Board follows through with its recommendation to raise rates by 14.5%, which it was scheduled to propose Friday. The rate hike proposal comes less than a year after the most recent increase of 11.5% in 2007. To its credit, the Water Board has been cracking down on freeloaders. After the City Council nixed a proposed 18% hike, water scofflaws who ignored their bills started to have their water shut off for the first time in modern memory. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg continued his whirlwind tour through Asia yesterday with a stop in Bali, Indonesia to talk to United Nations officials about the global effects of climate change. This is after a foray to China, that brought to mind Ed Koch's Beijing inspiration for bike paths in NYC to The New York Times' Clyde Haberman. Like NYC, Bali was the victim of a devastating terrorist attack that killed and injured hundreds of people. more ›