Above photo: Water shut-off protesters ZENOBIA JEFFRIES PHOTO
DETROIT — Cleaning up the books at the expense of residents in order to make the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department more attractive to potential buyers outside the city is how one Detroiter described the recent mass water shutoffs in the city.
“I was on a payment plan,” Joseph Link II told the Michigan Citizen. “My monthly payment was $190. (So when) they set this up, it automatically put me over the amount (where my water can be shut off).”
It’s been over two months since Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr announced DWSD is cutting service for 1500-3000 customers a week for those residents who are behind $150 or more on their water bills, or whose accounts are 60 days overdue.
According to DWSD, nearly half of the city’s residential customers — 154,000 out of 296,000 — are delinquent.
The department’s delinquency protocol includes the delivery of two delinquent bill notices:
– Past Due Notice: When a current bill is not paid in full by its due date, a notice requesting payment will be issued 11 days after the bill becomes due.
– Final Notice: A water shut off final notice will be issued when an account is unpaid 32 days after the billing date. The notice will be mailed to the service address and mailing address, if applicable.
There are several actions a resident can take following receipt of a shutoff that includes a hearing or entering into a payment plan.
