Saturation pricing now

 

Gothamist

 

New York City officials signed off on an 8.5% water bill hike for property owners on Thursday — the largest increase since 2011.

The city Water Board begrudgingly approved the new rates during a meeting where the group also passed a resolution saying they were forced to approve such a steep hike due to a budget maneuver by Mayor Eric Adams.

The members said Adams imposed new fees on the Water Board, an independent agency that oversees the city’s water supply. The resolution said the increase will make it more difficult to justify water bill hikes in the future, which could limit board's ability to fund infrastructure to handle increasing rainfall and rising sea levels caused by climate change.

“It undermines the board's ability to consider rates in the future for critical water infrastructure, like storm water resilience and coastal resilience,” board member Dan Zarrilli said in an interview after the vote.

The increase will add $93 to the average city property owner's water bill, from $1,088 to $1,181. The new rates go into effect July 1.

 

 

Thirsty for taxes

 

Photo by JQ LLC

NY Post 

Mayor Eric Adams plans to implement what critics claim is a “hidden tax” that would make homeowners’ water bills soar 8.5% – despite boasting his new budget plan won’t include more taxes. 

The city plans to charge its own Water Board at least $1.4 billion in rent over four years to lease water and sewer systems, The New York Times first reported. 

In turn, the city’s Department of Environmental Protection wants the Water Board to raise rates in July for homeowners and landlords by 8.5%, according to a proposal released Friday by the board.

If approved, the rate increase would only cover some of the rent charges, with the rest likely picked up by funds that usually cover water and sewer system capital project upgrades.

Owners of single-family homes pay $1,088 on average for water each year, and the proposal would add on nearly another $100 a year, according to the city.

Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens), who chairs the Committee on Environmental Protection, said the city is bringing back a “hidden tax” that was implemented in 1985 and used for decades until then-Mayor Bill de Blasio discarded it seven years ago.

He added the old “budget trick” might be legal — but it doesn’t make it fair.

“It’s using water and sewer monies to pay for parts of city government and services that have nothing to do with water and sewers,” he told The Post Saturday.

Landlords usually pay for water but pass along the cost to tenants in their monthly rents, making the plan nothing more than a regressive tax that will ultimately hurt low-income households the most since, they historically use more water than average New Yorkers, according to critics

 

MTA's new $$$ummer Of Hell

Today is the day to stop the MTA's congestion tax scheme

 

 

Queens Chronicle

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will host four hybrid hearings on the proposed rates for congestion pricing beginning at the end of this month.

The hearings will be hosted in person at 2 Broadway in Manhattan in the William J. Ronan 20th Floor Board Room. People may also register to participate remotely via Zoom or telephone.

The hearings are 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, March 1; and both 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. on Monday, March 4.

The proposed toll rates can be found online at bit.ly/42Hts2F. The MTA hopes to impose them starting in June, though several lawsuits have be filed to block the plan.

Each public hearing will be livestreamed on the MTA YouTube channel at MTA Live — YouTube and on the project website: mta.info/CBDTP.

The hearings also will be accessible online at mta.info/CBDTP. Comments can be submitted online, or by email, mail, fax, or voicemail message through Monday, March 11. Comments can be submitted in the following ways:

• Online: contact.mta.info/s/forms/CBDTP;

• Email: cbdtp.feedback@mtabt.org;

• Mail: CBD Tolling Program, 2 Broadway, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10004;

• Phone: (646) 252-7440; and

• Fax: Send to (212) 504-3148 with Attention to CBDTP Team.

The MTA said all comments will be afforded equal weight and will be recorded and submitted for review.

Members of the public who wish to speak at the hearings are required to register in advance online, by calling the Public Hearing Hotline at (646) 252-6777, or in person.

Registration will open one week before the start time of each hearing and will close 30 minutes after the meeting starts. Speakers will be provided two minutes. American Sign Language and CART Captioning Services will be available.

The stated purpose of the tolls is to raise $1 billion per year to fund the MTA’s capital projects budget; and to move traffic congestion and pollution out of Midtown and Downtown Manhattan by charging tolls for any vehicle entering the Central Business District at or below 60th Street.

The base rate is $15 per car during peak hours and $24 or $36 per truck depending on the size. Overnight discounts and other variations apply.

Originally set for April, the implementation could be delayed by any or all of four federal lawsuits that have been filed since.

 

MTA announces punitive congestion pricing tolls against drivers

 PIX News 

  A new report from The New York Times has revealed the city’s plan for congestion pricing.

Cars and SUVs would be charged $15 once a day to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. Trucks will be paying $24 or $36 depending on the size.

Motorcyclists will only be paying $7.50, according to the report.

The FDR Drive, West Side Highway and Brooklyn Battery Tunnel will be exempt from congestion pricing. Taxis and rideshares will also be exempt, although a surcharge will be passed on to customers.

Commuters buses will also be exempt, the report said.

Low-income New Yorkers will get half off congestion pricing, according to the report, but only after their first 10 trips every month. If you drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., you’ll get a 75% discount if you’re driving into New York City.

Local lawmakers weighed in on the report Wednesday night, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

“As a conceptual matter, I support congestion pricing, as long as it is structured in a way that is fair to all sides. This plan is neither fair nor equitable,” he said.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) was also critical of the plan as it was outlined in the report.

“As advertised, New York is officially sticking it to Jersey families with their commuter-crushing Congestion Tax. On top of the existing tolls, it’ll be 15 bucks every day to go into the city with no discounts at the GW Bridge — thousands of dollars a year just to drive to work,” he said.

The Traffic Mobility Review Board, the advisory panel that wrote the report, told The New York Times that the plan is a “huge step forward.”

Feds approve congestion pricing tax

 

 AMNY

Federal regulators have given final approval to New York City’s congestion pricing program, setting up the long-awaited implementation of tolling on vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district to reduce congestion and fund the region’s mass transit.

 A spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) confirmed to amNewYork Metro that it had issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact,” or FONSI, for congestion pricing. That means the feds are satisfied that the program will not cause adverse environmental impacts on the region, and the MTA can officially move forward with its plan to toll motor vehicles up to $23 for entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

“Congestion pricing will reduce traffic in our crowded downtown, improve air quality and provide critical resources to the MTA,” Hochul said in a statement. “I am proud of the thorough environmental assessment process we conducted, including responding to thousands of comments from community members from across the region. With the green light from the federal government, we look forward to moving ahead with the implementation of this program.”

The MTA declined to comment. 

I like to make a few:

 Richard Ravitch saved the subway without congestion pricing, and he sure didn't lobby for it like a cuck like our agency captured elected officials have been doing for the last few years. 

Also, the guy in charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation Alternatives is a sociopathic replicant.

Congestion pricing tax trolls reveal the tolls

 

THE CITY

The years-long effort to toll vehicles in the most congested parts of Manhattan as a way to bankroll billions of dollars in mass-transit improvements and reduce traffic is no longer stuck in neutral.

Today officials released the long-delayed “environmental assessment” of the proposed Central Business District Tolling Program — touting how it could potentially cut congestion coming into the core of Manhattan by nearly 20%, improve air quality, boost bus service reliability and increase mass transit usage.

The document also outlined what the program may cost drivers entering the toll zone: between $5 and $23 per trip, depending on the time of day and the type of vehicle.

The shift would change truck traffic in Manhattan, in particular; the report estimates truck trips through the central district would drop between 55% and 81% as drivers opt for less expensive routes. But it acknowledged that tolls could increase the number of drivers diverting onto roads in the South Bronx and on Staten Island.

Initially approved in 2019 by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature, the rollout of so-called congestion pricing has been repeatedly hampered by federal bureaucracy, including hundreds of highly detailed questions from the feds that pushed back the projected launch date.

New York’s system would be the first time tolls would be used in the United States to reduce traffic-related emissions.

But the program that aims to fund $15 billion of subway, bus and commuter rail improvements as part of the MTA’s 2020 to 2024 Capital Plan now appears to be on track, with virtual public hearings set for later this month.

“Bottom line: this is good for the environment, good for public transit and good for New York and the region,” Janno Lieber, MTA chairperson and CEO, said in a statement.

THE CITY 

In August, the transit agency will hold a series of six public hearings to take public comment on the assessment. They will be held on the following dates. THE CITY will update this piece when more information is made available on how and where to submit testimony:

• Thursday, Aug. 25, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
• Saturday, Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
• Sunday, Aug. 28, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 
• Tuesday, Aug. 30, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
• Wednesday, Aug. 31, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The work of making the final determinations about toll amounts and system functionality will be done by the Traffic Mobility Review Board, or TMRB, made up of six people — five appointees from the MTA and one from the mayor. The transit agency and Mayor Eric Adams appointed all TMRB members this summer. They are:

• Carl Weisbrod, former chair of the City Planning Commission and former director of the Department of City Planning.
• John Banks, president emeritus of the Real Estate Board of New York.
• Scott Rechler, chair of the Regional Plan Association and former CEO of the real estate group RXR.
• Elizabeth Velez, president of the construction management firm the Velez Organization.
• Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City.
• John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and former president of TWU Local 100 in New York.

Adams appointed Samuelsen, and the rest were appointed by the MTA. Weisbrod will serve as chair of the review board.