During the pandemic, frustration over Bayonne’s water rates has begun to boil over, drawing scrutiny to the city’s water contract: an unusual deal with a private equity firm and water company Suez.

Two online petitions seeking to lower the city’s water prices, one of which is titled “Suez is drowning us!!!!!” have garnered hundreds of signatures since their creation earlier this year.

Jodi Casais, a Bayonne school board trustee and the petitions’ creator, said her water bills had risen by roughly $300 since the beginning of the pandemic.

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