State Grabs $115 Million from Unredeemed Water Bottles

Governor Paterson celebrated Lenin's Earthday by signing into law a new Bottle Bill -- aka the Bigger Better Bottle Bill -- which includes bottled water among among the receptacles on which a deposit is expected, so unless you haul your empty Evians to the supermarket, your unredeemed nickels will add, by Paterson's reckoning, to $115 million in new state funds in the coming year. It's both earth- and Albany-friendly! The bill does a zillion other things, among them, "assesses a fee upon the entry of a horse in NYS pari-mutuel races," "increases food safety inspection and licensing fees and requires the licensure of seed labelers and distributors," and "provides for pesticide applicators fees and registration." Ha -- thought they could sneak those by us! On the other hand, they do cut a few things, like the Northeastern Queens nature and historical preserve commission, which saves $112,000. So you see, we all come out ahead, fiscally speaking. Photo (cc) m.gifford.