SUN attended the town hall meeting held in Syracuse on June 26th by Governor David Patterson’s Economic Security cabinet. The group is made up of the heads of 20 state agencies and they are charged with developing ways the state can help low income families survive in these tough economic times.
SUN wanted to focus attention on the problems low income neighborhoods in Syracuse are facing with skyrocketing home energy costs. Here is the statement we read at the meeting:
SUN is a grassroots neighborhood organization whose members are residents of the the south, southwest and near-west side neighborhoods of Syracuse. 500 families are dues-paying members of SUN and the organization has been in existence since 1978–fighting to improve our community, working on the issues of safe and affordable housing, crimne-free streets, bank redlining, quality city/county services and environmental justice.
SUN’s neighborhoods consist of 10 census tracts on the south and near-west sides of the city. According to the 2000 Census, 24,809 residents live in 8,625 households in these neighborhoods. 10,725 people in SUN’s neighborhoods live below the federal poverty line. This is 44% of the population whose income was determined–this compares to a poverty rate for the income determined population of 12% in Onondaga County and 27 % for the city of Syracuse. The median incomes for our 10 census tracts range from $8,974 to $22,515 with an average median income of $16,607 ( The median incomes for the county is $40,847 and for the city is $25,000).
Only 31% of the households in SUN’s target area are owner-occupied. The city has a owner-occupancy rate of 40% and the county’s rate is 64%.
SUN’s target area is 61% African-American, 26% white and 13% other minorities. 13% of the area’s residents consider themselves to be Hispanic or Latino. 41% of the city’s African-American population and 40% of the city’s Hispanic residents live within SUN’s target area.
Beyond all the statistics are our neighbors. Many are struggling to make ends meet. Unemployment, underemployment and small fixed incomes for disabilities and retirement make lifre difficult for many folks in our neighborhoods. In a report prepared by the Fiscal Policy Institute for your committee, it was revealed that 30% of working families in New York do not have enough income to cover the basics of life: food, shelter and energy.
Our neighborhoods reflect this reality. When people are juggling what little income they have to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, things that more affluent families consider basics are just not possible: home repairs, savings accounts, a computer for children’s schoolwork.
SUN is here today to ask the Economic Security cabinet to focus on what we believe is the single most pressing financial problem for families in our neighborhoods–the skyrocketing cost of home utilities–electricity and heat.
New York has the nation’s third highest utility bills, behind only Alaska and California. Syracuse, the nation’s snowiest metropolitan city, faces severe winter weather and families are struggling to keep up with their heat bills. Our neighborhood’s housing stock largely consists of large, wood-frame houses, many over 100 years old. Since only 31% of the neighborhood owns their own home, many families are unable to make repairs that would reduce their heat bills, even if they could find the money to finance the necessary work. We have entered a time where families heat bills in the winter months regularly exceed the payments made on either rent or mortgages.
Our office fields dozens of calls a week from families desperate to avoid utility shut offs or make arrangements to pay delinquent bills. Many families have told stories of being without power for extended periods of time, heating their homes with gas stoves.
SUN has several suggestions to deal with this growing crisis in our neighborhoods:
1. Create low-income utility rates for electricity and natural gas. According to a 2004 study by the Public Utility Law Project, creating a separate schedule of rates for low income families would cut costs to utilities and communities by reducing: the number of shut offs and reconnections, the number of uncollectible accounts, the costs to cities for fire and emergency services and to government for Medicaid and homeless shelters.
2. Expand and improve low income energy efficiency programs. The state’s Weatherization Assistance Program has a two year waiting list in Onondaga County. More money for the program could be found by adopting the Assembly’s bill 11590 for a windfall recovery tax on oil companies or committing profits generated by the state’s proposed participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap and trade program.
3. Vigorously enforce the Home Energy Fair Practices Act. The state policy of continuous service without unreasonable qualification should create a climate where a utility shutoff is a rare occurrence.
4. Establish incentives for utilities to reduce service interruption. To help reach the goal of rare shut offs, utilities should be rewarded for finding creative ways to keep a customer’s power on, rather than being forced to use shut offs as a collection tool.
5. More state investment in safe and affordable housing–construction and rehabilitation. Homes built new for low income families (and homes rehabilitated for low income families) will be more energy efficient and reduce the overall use of energy. The state should increase the commitment to funding housing programs under DHCR and HFA, AFC and SONYMA. In addition, the state should work with groups like the Empire State Housing Alliance to wok toward creating a true state Housing Trust Fund, with annually dedicated funds from a stable source of income.
