Hiking water rates is another way Mamdani tosses affordability overboard

“Affordability” is going forgotten again as Mayor Zohran Mamdani grabs some extra cash for his agenda by racking water rates.Over the objections of elected officials, homeowner groups and rate-payers, the city Water Board on Tuesday approved a 6% water-rate hike as of July 1. GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman rightly slammed it as “a multimillion-dollar backroom deal to bail out Mamdani’s city budget on the backs of hardworking taxpayers.”The fix was in from the start: Mamdani’s executive budget spending plan had already baked in the rate hike months ago.The average homeowner can expect to shell out an extra $100 a year, while water and sewer bills for apartment buildings will jump $60 per unit.Which points to one reason the mayor doesn’t care: Tenants don’t directly feel any pain from the hike, so they won’t blame Mamdani — and the landlords already know he hates them.Since the days of Ed Koch, City Hall has collected a “rental payment” from the Water Board to “lease” the Big Apple’s water and sewer system; that revenue flows into the city’s General Fund.The charge has soared in recent years, from $102 million in 2003 to $313 million in the current fiscal year.Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story.

Since 2004, it’s been based not on anything to do with the city’s costs, but on an obscure formula based on various bond-payment rates.Way back in 2008, city Comptroller William Thompson blasted the change as sneakily exploiting New Yorkers for City Hall’s fiscal benefit; he wanted the lease revenue to go to lowering water rates for customers; naturally, City Hall nixed his recommendation.And Mamdani, who campaigned on various pledges to make living in the Big Apple less costly, is continuing the rip-off of water customers to help bloat his ci...