Overview:
- Michigan legislators and advocates are pushing for a 2023 bill package to create a statewide water affordability fund, capping water bills for low-income residents with a $2 surcharge on ratepayers' bills. - This legislation would aid over 370,000 Michigan households, expanding eligibility for water bill assistance and adding usage caps.
- Critics argue it's either unnecessary or insufficient for true affordability. The bill has had hearings in the Michigan House and Senate but hasn't advanced in either chamber.
As the Michigan legislature enters lame duck, legislators and advocates are calling for action on a 2023 bill package to establish a statewide water affordability fund that would cap water bills for low-income residents through a $2 surcharge on ratepayers’ bills.
“This is an issue that affects families in urban, suburban and rural communities alike, in every single county in Michigan,” State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), the legislation’s chief sponsor, said during a Monday press call.
“We need to pass (the legislation) in lame duck in order to make sure that we are not in a crisis in a few years,” she said. Chang said inflation is only increasing the pressure on the state’s vulnerable families.
Over 370,000 Michigan households would qualify for assistance through the water affordability plan established by the legislation, according to a report from Public Sector Consultants, a non-partisan Lansing consulting firm.
Water affordability is a key priority for environmental advocates during the legislature’s lame duck period, which has seen little action on key environmental issues like polluter pay and community solar. Democrats will lose control of the Michigan House next year.
However, affordability advocates may object to some recent changes to the legislation, including caps on water usage for those participating in the affordability program and regional pooling of affordability funds.
A broad coalition supporting the legislation includes over 100 elected officials as well as Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Director Gary Brown.
State Sen. John Damoose (R-Charlevoix) spoke in support of the legislation Monday, saying a sustainable funding source was needed to reduce resident debt, strengthen utilities and protect public health.
“Florida has beautiful winters, Colorado has amazing mountains, and Michigan has water. The thought that some of our residents cannot afford access to that water is something that should be appalling to every legislator, Republican or Democrat,” he said.
Changes expand eligibility for water bill assistance and add caps on usage
The latest version of the water affordability legislation includes several changes that Chang said came from working with different stakeholders “across the aisle.”
These include the plan to pool funding regionally, which Damoose said was needed to address his constituents’ concerns that their money would be sent to Southeast Michigan “never to be heard from again.”
These regions would be based on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services map for business service centers. Chang said she was “very comfortable making this change” based on the balance between the total customers in the regions and the number of households likely to benefit from the program.
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What Chang called “very reasonable caps on usage” have also been added to the bills, which she said built on the success of Detroit’s Lifeline water assistance plan.
The monthly cap would be approximately 4,500 to 6,000 gallons for a household with zero to four people, 6,700 to 8,200 gallons for a household of five to six, and 9,000 to 10,500 gallons for a household of seven to eight, with rising allowances thereafter.
However, Detroit’s Lifeline Plan, which set a cap of 4,500 per month, received pushback from some residents who said their households struggled to stay within this allowance.
These changes amend the existing legislation to create a statewide Low-Income Water Residential Affordability Fund , which caps water bills at 2% of a households’ income for those at or below 135% of the federal poverty level, while those with incomes between 136% and 200% would have a cap of 3%.
Another recent amendment allows those at 200% to 250% of the federal poverty limit to receive temporary assistance if they are experiencing financial hardship.
The program covers a household’s whole water bill, including sewerage and drainage charges. Participating utilities would have some flexibility in how they administer programs and could add income tiers but are required to do so within the parameters of the state program.
The state would reimburse participating water utilities for the difference between the cost of service and what they charge through income-based rates. Enrolled customers could have at least $1,500 in past due bills erased in the first year and another $1,500 forgiven the next year if needed.
Bills introduced by Chang and Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) in 2023 added shutoff protections, which incorporate detailed notification requirements for disconnecting ratepayers’ water. These also protect residents with certain health conditions and those attempting to enroll in an affordability program or who have made minimum payments from having their water shut off.
Chang noted further changes to the water affordability package were possible, saying that bills were “still very much in discussion.”
Some say bills are unnecessary; others argue they don’t go far enough
Since it was unveiled in 2023, the affordability legislation has received criticism from multiple camps, including those who say it’s unnecessary and others who say it won’t go far enough to ensure true affordability.
The Michigan Municipal League, a nonprofit association of municipalities and municipal leaders, opposes the legislation and Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller has previously said communities should be able to opt out of the $2 monthly charge.
“Most of our folks are members of the Great Lakes Water Authority, and we are already paying for something called the WRAP program, which is the Water Residential Assistance Program,” Miller told Michigan Radio in 2023. WRAP is a two-year program that helps low-income households with water bills, arrearages, plumbing repairs and other assistance.
However, Sylvia Orduño, an organizer with the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, criticized the short-term nature of programs like WRAP and the burden placed on residents forced to navigate them.
Monica Lewis-Patrick, co-founder of the water affordability advocacy group We the People of Detroit, previously told Planet Detroit that the state affordability program’s $2 monthly charge may be insufficient to ensure affordability as water systems face mounting costs for dealing with debt, aging stormwater infrastructure, and PFAS contamination. She expressed concern that rising costs could lead to income caps being raised or that shutoff protections could be inadequate.
“We’re dealing with what is politically digestible as opposed to the reality that our communities are in,” she said.
Yet, whether the legislation is politically workable remains to be seen.
Both Chang and Aiyash said the bills were a priority in the last month of the term. Aiyash encouraged residents to contact their representatives, “particularly in the House,” pointing to possible challenges in that chamber.
Still, Damoose expressed optimism that the legislation would attract some support from his fellow Republicans and Aiyash made similar comments.
“I think there’s been a lot of healthy discussions with members of both caucuses, and I think there’s an appetite to get this done before we leave for the New Year,” Aiyash said.
The legislation received hearings in the Michigan House and Senate but has not advanced in either chamber.