86-year-old woman in Flushing faces possible foreclosure for unpaid water bill over 20,000 dollars

New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued a hefty water bill to an 86-year-old woman in Flushing, reaching a staggering $22,828, putting her at risk of losing her own home. The elderly woman insists that this charge is completely erroneous.

According to the New York Post, Margaret McGowan, who has been living in her modest residence in Flushing for 50 years, has never had a water bill exceeding $85 per month. However, due to the DEP discovering issues with her water meter in early 2022, billing was suspended for about two years. When the water meter was repaired in early 2024, the DEP retroactively charged her for about two years of water usage, amounting to $850 per month.

This level of water usage is equivalent to using the water of 10 swimming pools each month, which is clearly unreasonable.

Receiving such a high bill along with interest has deeply frightened McGowan. She has appealed to the DEP twice, but was rejected both times. The DEP even threatened to foreclose her home if she cannot pay the full amount. McGowan now only has one final chance to appeal to the New York City Water Board.

Local New York State Assemblyman Ed Braunstein visited her home to show support, demanding the DEP to rescind this “absurd” bill and apologize to McGowan. The DEP claims that the surge in water bill is due to leaks inside the residence, to which Braunstein questioned if there were leaks equivalent to the water from 10 swimming pools each month, the whole street would know, yet no such incidents occurred.

Reportedly, even banks have advised McGowan to pay the bill to avoid losing her property.

In response to this, the DEP only told the Post that the water meter itself “isn’t the issue,” and the bill is based on the “actual high water usage.”