“The second bill before me is Introductory Number 852-A, sponsored at the request of the Administration by Council Members Weprin, Fidler, Eugene, Gennaro and Rivera.  Introductory Number 852-A changes the way in which expenses for repair work performed by or on behalf of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are noticed and collected by the Department of Finance.

“HPD performs emergency repairs in privately owned residential buildings in order to address immediately hazardous violations that are not corrected by the owner.  Charges incurred by HPD for the emergency repair work are billed to the owner by the Department of Finance.

“Introductory Number 852-A ensures that the Department of Finance continues to send out a Statement of Account on a regular interval.  The Statement of Account is a bill that includes a summary of charges – including real estate taxes and all agency charges – and the date by which they must be paid.  This legislation also conforms HPD’s Emergency Repair Program billing and lien creation process to the Department of Finance’s current billing process.  About five years ago, the Department of Finance consolidated all agencies’ charges of the quarterly Statement of Account, except that it continued to send out separate bills for HPD’s emergency repair work.  Introductory Number 852-A allows for HPD’s charges to appear on the Statement of Account, thereby eliminating the need for this second bill.

“Introductory Number 852-A allows for more government transparency by streamlining the billing process for HPD’s emergency repair work and saves the City resources by eliminating the need for the Department of Finance to send out separate bills to homeowners.

“I would like to thank Department of Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, HPD Commissioner Rafael Cestero, and their staff for their work on this bill.  I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation.”