S 3664: Provides that any qualified homeowner in the city of New York shall be eligible to be exempted from any future increases in water rate fees.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3664 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 29, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing certain elderly individuals with an exemption from increases in water rates The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended 2 by adding a new section 24-340 to read as follows: 3 § 24-340 Senior citizen water rate freeze. a. For purposes of this 4 section the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (1) "Qualified homeowner" means a person who: (a) is at least sixty- 6 five years of age; (b) owns real property; and (c) has had a total 7 household income of less than fifty thousand dollars for two consecutive 8 income tax years beginning in two thousand nineteen, as verified by the 9 New York city department of finance; 10 (2) "Real property" means a one, two, three, or four family home owned 11 by a qualified homeowner that serves as the primary residence of such 12 homeowner; 13 (3) "Water rate increase" means an increase in water rates that takes 14 effect subsequent to a qualified homeowner's eligibility under this 15 section. 16 b. Real property owned by a qualified homeowner shall be exempt from 17 any charges due to a water rate increase. 18 c. The exemption provided by this section may be suspended for no more 19 than one calendar year by the commissioner of the department of environ- 20 mental protection of the city of New York (1) in the event of a drought, 21 or (2) in the event of a disaster or catastrophe other than drought, 22 which causes or may cause an actual and immediate shortage of available 23 and usable water. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08258-01-5 
 S. 3664 2 1 d. Eligibility for the exemption provided by this section shall not 2 preclude a qualified homeowner's eligibility for any other exemption or 3 credit to which they are entitled. 4 § 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2027.