A new Michigan bill package is set to be introduced to the Senate next week regarding water affordability.
The package includes creating a fund to help people statewide who are struggling to pay their water bills, but not everyone is on board.
Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller believes there should be a way to opt out because they are already involved in a similar program.
Senator Stephanie Chang (D) is one of the co-sponsors of the legislation. She said there have been 24 workgroup meetings for the last seven months to take a look at the statewide need and how to address it.
“What we’re talking about is a statewide water affordability solution that includes a funding mechanism of statewide affordability program, shut off protections, very comprehensive and the results of a lot of conversations with water providers themselves, advocates, municipalities and experts across the state,” said Chang.
To fund the program, water customers would pay an extra $2 a month, $24 a year, and that’s Miller’s concern.
“I think it’s a fee that’s not necessary,” said Miller. “We (Macomb County) already have high water and sewer bills, and we don’t want another fee for something that we are probably never going to use, quite frankly. We have a program with the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) called the WRAP program, which stands for assistance for folks who need assistance in paying their water bill.”
Miller said she would like lawmakers to have a way for counties to opt-out so they won’t be in the same predicament that they’re in now with other programs.
“There’s over 100 communities that are members of the Great Lakes Water Authority, and of that WRAP program, quite frankly, we never use all of the money that we generate in Macomb County, and we give it to Wayne County to Detroit, Flint, other areas that are within the Great Lakes Water Authority,” Miller said.
Chang argues that the bigger picture is the need across the state, not just one county.
“We actually pulled data in the first year of COVID,” Chang said. “And we knew that there were 370,000 Michigan households that were behind on their water bills. It may be a much lower number now, but we know that families are still struggling. We also know that in Macomb County, the numbers were pretty up there. Warren was close to 3,000 households that were behind on their bills. Roseville, more than 700 families were behind on their water bills.”
Chang said there’s a statewide program in place to help with energy bills.