Results tagged “rate”

As pedicab operators make the final stride in becoming legit under the city's new regulations, the NY Post takes a look at their rate cards. Unlike other modes of transportation in this city, pedicabs don't have a fixed fare. Operators can change their prices from minute-to-minute as long as they provide rate cards for their customers.

Ugh, the economy. America lost 263,000 jobs in September, far more than analysts expected, and the national unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Labor Department's monthly report. (Last month it was announced that 10.3% of NYC is unemployed, the highest rate since the Dinkins administration.) State and local governments across the country slashed 47,000 jobs last month, and now the unemployment rate is at a 26-year high.

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."

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.

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.