Newsletter
Baltimore Residents Win Water Affordability Program – Water4All
Water Affordability
Authored by
Newsletter: Spring 2022
Residents of Baltimore, Maryland have won a major victory in their fight for affordable water. On February 8th, Mayor Scott announced the initiation of the Water4All program. Baltimore is the second major US city, after Philadelphia, to determine water and sanitation bills based on income and family size, for all who are eligible.
Baltimore’s affordability program is modeled on a program designed for Detroit in 2005. At that time, Roger Colton, expert on developing affordability programs for utilities, was brought to Detroit by the Michigan Poverty Law Program, Michigan Legal Services and Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. After months of research, a program was developed which included making the water affordable for all, managing past bills, protecting consumers who are unable to pay late fees and protecting families from service shutoffs. Detroit’s City Council passed this plan but it was never implemented.
The problems in Detroit worsened over the years and resulted in water and sewer bills over 10 percent of a family’s income and tens of thousands of families having their water shutoff. The Peoples’ Water Board Coalition was formed in 2008 and has continued this fight. A moratorium on the shutoffs was implemented in Detroit during the pandemic. It is unclear what will happen at the end of 2022 when the moratorium is lifted. Activists are working with progressive legislators in the state and federal government to make water affordable.
Baltimore’s program is now open to all whose income falls below 200% of the federal poverty level. The Baltimore Sun estimates this would be a family of four with an income of $53,000. No one in this program will pay more than 3% of their income.
Other features of the program include paying down the amount in arrears when a customer pays their bill on time and the hiring of a Consumer Advocate to independently mediate customer complaints fairly, timely and with transparency.
This water affordability program in Baltimore came about after years of work by a coalition of a broad range of stakeholders, including water rights activists, elected officials, legal assistance, community activists writing letters to the editor, opinion pieces, attending meetings, the passage of the Water Accountability and Equity Act by City Council in 2019 and the support of the mayor.
Share!
Rate Hike
The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) will increase wholesale water rates 3.7% and sewer rates 2.4% in July, triggering rate hikes in the 88 communities it serves across Metro Detroit. Similar hikes are planned for the following year, and GLWA projections show a need for 3% hikes for the fiscal years of 2025 to 2027. “If we continue on this trajectory, more people are going to have challenges affording their water and more communities are going to run into problems,” said Jen Read, director of the University of Michigan Water Center. Her previous research showed that low-income Detroit households spend around at least 25% of their disposable income on water and sewer service. Detroit’s water shutoff moratorium is set to expire at the end of 2022, raising the possibility of widespread disconnections if the city fails to create a plan for water affordability. (Detroit News)