Water bill revenues jumped 12 percent above projections in the first half of this month – a sorely needed uptick as the Water Board weighs an 18.5 percent special rate hike, officials said yesterday.
Officials in the office of Comptroller Bill Thompson said the Water Board took in $9 million more than anticipated in the first two weeks of October, reducing the fiscal year-to-date deficit from $70 million to $61 million.
The board, which has a budget of more than $2 billion, sounded the alarms a couple of weeks ago when September collections plummeted suddenly.
Water Board officials warned that they would have to impose an extra rate hike of up to 18.5 percent on Jan. 1 – on top of the 11.5 percent imposed on July 1 – if the numbers didn’t turn around quickly.
One city official cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
“It jumps around a lot,” said the official, noting that receipts were up just 8 percent for the first three weeks of the month.
But City Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens), chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee, said the latest figures “bode well for not having to do an increase.”