LANSING — Supporters of affordable water access testified before a Michigan House committee Tuesday, making the case for a statewide support program.
Advocates compare water availability to electricity and internet access, both of which have state and federal programs that help keep costs affordable for low-earners.
“When even a small portion of customers miss payments, utility revenue declines and tough decisions have to be made — raise rates for everyone to recoup the costs, reduce the level of service to all customers or defer needed capital work,” said Sara Rubino, an Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner attorney.
A bipartisan group of state senators introduced a water affordability package earlier this year that they say would impact more than 350,000 households.
Those policies would mainly cap water payments at 3% of area average income for households within 200% of the federal poverty level, and at just 2% for lower-earners within 135%.
Maggie Pallone, senior VP of Public Sector Consultants, says that the average annual water cost for a low-income household is more than $400 away from an affordable amount.
“That’s about $36 a month that would need to be filled to go from having unaffordable water to what’s considered affordable, at no more than 3% or 2%, depending on their income level,” she said.
Some parts of Northern Michigan have higher monthly payment gaps, like the Eastern Upper Peninsula at $41.
In most other parts of Northern Michigan, the affordability gap is less than the state average, ranging from $30 to $18.
There have been similar efforts in previous years, none of which have made it into law.
State Rep. John Roth, (R) District 104, Interlochen, says the state has so far been involved in other means of supporting water access, but not directly through a state program.
“We’re not doing a lot of assistance programs necessarily with water,” he said. “It’s more about granting municipalities some of those dollars to improve their system.”
Roth says that even if these policies don’t make it into law, the state should still consider how they can better assist residents struggling with water costs.
“When we wait until it costs so much to repair, it just puts the dollar figures up even more for people to pay each month — so it’s having a better plan long term,” he said. “It is hard to believe we got this state surrounded by water, yet we’re having affordability issues.”