Bulletin March, 2000
 

Under a court ordered agreement with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEP), all properties in New York City are to have a meter installed. If the records of the NYC DEP. reflect no meter installed at a residential property as of June 30, 2000 a surcharge may be imposed.

This surcharge will approximately double the annual frontage bill of that property and will most probably be imposed at the beginning of the next fiscal year (July1, 2000).

This surcharge can continue annually until a proper meter installation is completed.

A property owner may have a meter installed by a licensed plumber and be appropriately reimbursed by DEP or the owner can opt to have the installation completed by DEP at no cost.

Following are excerpts from a letter that the DEP sent out that is more detailed:

Important Notice Regarding Water Meters

You Must Install a Water Meter.

This is to advise you that under the terms of a court-ordered agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation (DEC), all properties in New York City are required to have a water meter installed.

The records of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicate that the property noted above does not have a water meter installed.  Properties which are not metered will be issued a surcharge in their 2000-2001 annual frontage bill.

If you already have a water meter or do not own this property, please call DEP immediately (718-595-7000) to prevent being surcharged.  If you prefer you can visit DEP's website (www.ci.nyc.ny.us/dep), print and complete the form entitled "Important Information for Customers Who Have Had Water Meters Installed", and return it to DEP either by the US mail of by fax (718-595-7245).

If you  have recently asked for a meter installation and you are waiting for an appointment, you do not need to do anything else other than cooperate with the meter installation when the installer arrives.  To be sure that your request for a meter has been received, call 718-595-7000 and ask the Customer Service Representative to "Check Screen 23-09 for a current work order".

If you do not have a water meter and have not arranged to have one installed, you must choose one of the following two ways to prevent being issued a surcharge:

A DEP contractor will install the meter at no cost to you.  To request a meter installation you can call 718-595-7700.  If you prefer, you can complete the application available online and mail or fax it (718-595-7245) to our offices. (Form is available at: www.ci.nyc.ny.us/dep).  Please provide the property address, account or block/lot number, contact name and telephone number.  You will not receive a surcharge if you request a meter installation before January 1, 2000, and you cooperate with metering efforts.  If the request arrives after January 1, 2000, we will work to fulfill it, but we cannot guarantee that requests received after that date will be fulfilled in time to prevent a surcharge.  If the meter installation is delayed because of technical problems which DEP must resolve, you will not be surcharged.  Please note that the problems DEP is responsible for resolving do not include plumbing in bad condition, which the customer must have repaired before a meter can be installed.

You can hire a licensed plumber yourself to install the water meter and be reimbursed up to the market rate for a meter installation.  For more information on the "Reimbursable Metering Program", you may visit our website at www.ci.nyc.ny.us/dep or fax your request for a booklet to 718-595-7245 or call 718-595-7700.  A listing for licensed plumbers can be found in the Yellow Pages.  Make sure the plumber you choose has a current, valid license.  This can be checked with the NYC Department of Buildings at 212-312-8217.

Water Meters Encourage Conservation and Allocate Costs More Equitably

The installation of a water meter can help New York City conserve water and spread costs more equitable among the users of the system.  Rather than paying an annual flat-rate water and sewer bill, which is an estimate of how much water is typically consumed in a building like yours, meter-based billing allows you to pay only for the water actually used in your property.  Most small properties see reduced bills once they install a meter.

The Water Board will permit  your qualified residential multiple dwellings of six or more units to remain on annual flat-rate billing after the water meter is installed, until you would like to be billed on the meter.

WEBSITE TIPS:

The forms described in this notice are available for printing at DEP's website.  The address is www.ci.nyc.ny.us/dep.  Enter "Meter" in the Search Box on the main page, and then select "Water Metering and Billing".

Para obtener una copia de esta carta en espaņol, llame al 718-595-7000.

If you have questions concerning this you can contact the DEP at the above telephone numbers or call us if you need further assistance.

The following notice was sent to us from the New York City Department of Finance.  It covers the new Recording and Endorsement page:

NOTICE

The Rules of the City of New York were recently amended to require that a Recording and Endorsement Page be completed and submitted with every document presented for recording to the Office of the City Register. This rule was effective October 2, 1998. However, in an effort to provide adequate notice of this new rule to our customers, we will continue to accept documents submitted for recording without the Recording and Endorsement Page until December 31, 1998.

Any documents received by the Office of the City Register on or after January 4, 1999 MUST be accompanied by a Recording and Endorsement Page.  Additionally, because the Recording and Endorsement Page becomes a part of the recorded document, the applicable $5 per page recording fee is required to be paid.

You may obtain a copy of the Recording and Endorsement page by utilizing the Department of Finance Tax Fax Service (call (718) 935-6114 from the phone connected to your fax and select document #341) or the Internet Website at: http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/finance.
 
 

Excerpt from Daily News Metro Section  Page CN 4    July 6, 1998

Business Review