A trade group representing rent-regulated housing landlords is warning that changes to a program designed to promote energy efficiency could hit small building owners with big costs.
Under new guidelines, the city would require buildings that are 25,000 square feet or larger to track their energy use. Currently, the threshold is 50,000 square feet.
The change opens up small building owners – including some six-story walk-ups – to filing costs of up to $1,000 per building each year and potential fines of the same amount for noncompliance, Frank Ricci, director of government affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association told the Wall Street Journal.
City officials countered that building owners simply need to file on time and that filing costs can actually be as low as $100, the newspaper reported. [WSJ, 1st] – Tom DiChristopher