Julie Cassidy

Over the last few years, we’ve all felt the pinch on our wallets as the costs of living have risen and wages haven’t kept up. But some relief for struggling families is in sight now that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has a plan to make water and sewer bills more affordable. Senate Bills 248 through 250 are awaiting a vote on the Michigan Senate floor and similar legislation is being championed in the House of Representatives.

The bills would create a program to serve customers up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level ($66,000 for a family of four) with water bill payment assistance, arrearage forgiveness and plumbing repairs to reduce water loss.

The state program would be funded through a monthly surcharge of $1.25 collected from all water customers, with flexibility for communities that prefer to administer their own local affordability programs. In any case, the money would support families in the same region from which it was collected.

While less than the cost of a bottle of pop each month, the surcharge would make a huge difference in a state like ours, where 41% of households struggle to afford basic needs.

Families in Michigan’s rural and northern communities tend to face even greater hardship. For example, half of the families in Montmorency County are either living in poverty or earning wages that are above the poverty line but don’t fully cover all of life’s essentials.

Over the last few decades, residential water costs in our state have nearly doubled while household incomes have remained fairly stagnant. Now, of the 20 most common jobs in Michigan, 14 pay less than $20 per hour – not enough for a family to thrive, even with full-time work.

It’s not hard to see that these larger economic dynamics have put our communities in a tough spot: water providers are grappling with the rising costs of operating aging systems, while the people those systems were built to serve face a declining ability to pay.

It’s not sustainable.

When individual households can’t afford their water bills, providers don’t have the revenue they need to keep delivering reliable, quality service to all of us. Our communities and families could face even greater utility access and cost issues as the massive data centers proposed across the state threaten to further strain our collective energy and water resources. Statewide access to water bill assistance is a small but critical piece of the solution to our larger water infrastructure challenges.

The extreme cold and ice Michiganders have faced this winter underscores the importance of water affordability, as many households have had to shift their spending to cover crushing heating bills. All utilities are essential to individual and public health, and an affordability program can ensure that people don’t have to choose between life-sustaining water and energy to stay warm and safe.

None of us can survive without clean water, and we’re all at risk in an economy under which the ability to pay for service is guaranteed to erode for all but the wealthiest few. The bipartisan water affordability package is a start toward ensuring that all Michiganders have access to this basic survival need, no matter where they live. You can learn more about the difference this legislation would make in your community at https://www.miwaterplan.com/.