Syracuse City Hall wants to change the law on water shutoffs to better notify tenants and give residents a hearing before it cuts water service. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is seeking Common Council approval on the law, which would require notices to be posted on the doors of rental properties before a water shutoff over unpaid bills. In the...
Bridget Doxator holds her 13 month-old granddaughter, Lamara Doxator, while her boyfriend, Dana Darling, and son Devin Darling, 8, sit on a couch in their living room at 1225 Butternut St. last December. The city of Syracuse shut off their water because of a $1,200 bill the landlord has yet to pay. Syracuse City Hall wants to change the law on water shutoffs to better notify tenants and give residents a hearing before it cuts water service.
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is seeking Common Council approval on the law, which would require notices to be posted on the doors of rental properties before a water shutoff over unpaid bills. In the past, the city only sent certified letters as notice, and tenants sometimes did not receive them.
The new law also provides tenants and property owners the option of a hearing before a city official. A tenant with an unresponsive landlord may be able to work out a deal with the official to make water payments in lieu of rent, said Corporation Counsel Juanita Perez Williams.
The changes are meant to satisfy complaints of tenants and advocacy groups, such as Syracuse United Neighbors. Since the city began aggressive water shutoffs in 2007, some renters have found themselves with no water without notice or after trying to resolve the problem with city officials.
“You need water to live,” Phil Prehn of SUN said at a council committee meeting Wednesday. “We’re not talking about cable television.”
Prehn said the system needed to be changed so tenants receive proper notice and have an opportunity to fight the shutoff. The new law is an improvement, he said.
The legislation also removes language from a past law that allowed the city to shut off water to properties for back taxes and code violations. The new law allow shutoffs only for back water bills or for a declaration of an unfit or hazardous dwelling by a code enforcement officer.
Since 2007, the city has reduced its delinquent water bills from $6 million to about $4.3 million, said Deborah Somers, commissioner of water.
Common Council is scheduled to vote on the legislation Monday.
--Contact Meghan Rubado at mrubado@syracuse.com or 470-3260.