The Lifeline Plan, the city’s new water affordability program, discovered that 2,183 of the 15,000 enrolled residents ended up falling behind on their water bills.
To make sure the residents still have access to water in their homes, the water department will recommend to the Board of Water Commissioners to change the Lifeline Plan to “include easing water usage limits for larger families and nonpayment policies,” the Detroit Free Press said.
In the meantime, according to Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) spokesperson Bryan Peckinpaugh in an email to the Free Press, “starting this week, households with high past-due balances may see a postcard in their mailbox reminding customers to pay their water bills or enroll in an assistance program. A pandemic-era moratorium on water shut-offs for some customers in Detroit lifted at the end of 2022 and residential shutoffs are expected to resume for households that have arrears, have not signed up for an assistance or payment plan and are not low-income. There is no date set for when shut-offs will begin.”
Those enrolled in the Lifeline Plan paid a fixed rate between $18 to $56 a month, which was measured by household income and water usage. Most of the people who are in arrears are in the $18-a-month group.
Some of the reasons why people are falling behind are “the rising cost of living, lingering economic effects of the pandemic and job losses making it more challenging to pay lowered water bills,” Shama Mounzer, executive director of empowerment and integration services at Wayne Metro, said to the Free Press. “Some may forget to make the payments. People who have very low incomes oftentimes are choosing which bills to pay, she said, and so their water payments might fall through the cracks.”
Wayne Metro is offering to assist the people in the Lifeline Plan who are behind on their bill.
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