NYC Water Bill Help: Here's How To Tap Debt Program

NEW YORK CITY — Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers can get help paying the water bill from the city this month.

An amnesty program that will forgive up to 100 percent interest for nearly 200,000 customers with late water bills is being extended until May 31, said Mayor Eric Adams.

Since the program began three months ago, Adams said it has brought in nearly $80 million dollars and saved New Yorkers $12 million in interest.

"We don’t want to shut off anyone’s water,” Adams said Monday. “The goal is to keep water on. But we can’t overburden taxpayers who are following the rules."

City officials began the program three months ago as a relatively pain-free way to collect nearly $1.2 billion in delinquent water bills from the coronavirus pandemic.

New Yorkers with delinquent water bills can check this website to see if they qualify for the amnesty. Those with a balance of more than $1,000 for more than a year have three payment options in the program:

• If 100 percent of the principal bill is paid, 100 percent of interest will be forgiven
• If 50 percent of the principal bill is paid, 75 percent of interest will be forgiven
• If 25 percent of the principal bill is paid, 50 percent of interest will be forgiven.

And those who owe less than $1,000 can receive amnesty on 100 percent of their interest if they pay their total bill.

Roughly 86,000 customers have participated in the program so far, City Hall officials said. Low-income homeowners have received $4.2 million in billing credits as part of the program, officials said.

But while low-income New Yorkers get a carrot, more well-to-do delinquent customers will be the first to get the stick, said Rohit Aggarwala, the city's Department of Environmental Protection commissioner.

Owners of 50 single-family homes, mostly "mega-mansions," are among the top delinquent customers in the city, Aggarwala said.

They owe $8.7 million in unpaid water bills compared to $7 million for the top 50 delinquent office buildings, he said.

The amnesty program is designed to help people who were struggling through the pandemic, Aggarwala said.

“We also know that there are some people who are just making a business decision, that they don’t think DEP will ever follow up,” he said. “If somebody wants to call our bluff, I think the tables will be on them.”

One Third Avenue office building has been long delinquent on its water bill and only made moves to pay Monday after it received a shutoff notice, Aggarwala said. He said if the building's owners don't pony up 25 percent of the bill, then water will be shut off May 15.

Shutoffs soon will begin starting on buildings that have owe more than $100,000 for more than 180 days, Aggarwala said.

Tens of thousands of buildings owe water bill debts that add up to $800 million, he said.

"We are starting with buildings where we believe there's an ability to pay, but we will be working down that list," he said of shutoffs.