Two City Council members have asked the city to shut the spigot on a new water-billing policy, a change that the .
In a letter Thursday, Costa Constantinides and Daniel Dromm—Queens council members with oversight of the city agencies in question—asked the city Department of Environmental Protection to extend the Sept. 13 deadline the agency set for flipping the switch on the city’s water-bill database.
“Although we have no doubt that this change was well intentioned, we believe that the concerns raised by stakeholders around this change necessitate greater discussion,” the councilmen wrote.
The city offers water-billing data through a subscription database managed by the Department of Finance, which catalogs bills dating back more than two decades. The agency began informing customers last month that the data is being removed from the portal and directed users to a separate database managed by the DEP.
The change has angered companies that audit bills for city property owners. They say the DEP database offers only a limited look at a building’s historic water use. Landlords are allowed to challenge water bills dating back four years, but the DEP database provides only one year of billing records. To receive further records, owners would have to file a freedom of information request.
It was reported last month on a blog affiliated with water-management company Ashokan , which requires landlords take action to dramatically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their buildings.
“At a time when we are rightfully asking many of these owners to upgrade their buildings as part of our fight for a sustainable climate, we owe it to them to ensure that they are not being inadvertently burdened with inaccurate bills,” the letter concludes.
SOURCE: Section Page News – Crain’s New York Business – Read entire story here.