Water Shutoffs and, Likely, Controversy to Resume

Detroit’s bankruptcy judge is being asked to extend a moratorium on water shut-offs scheduled to resume Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are consulting on a motion filed Sunday asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Rhodes to block the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department from resuming the shutoffs.

A month ago, human rights activists blocked utility workers’ access to meters and staged demonstrations that prompted national debate about whether access to potable water is a basic human right.

The monthlong moratorium was intended to help Detroit residents settle their accounts or arrange payment plans to clear an estimated $89 in delinquent bills, including $43 million from about 80,000 residential accounts, The Detroit News reports.

At one point this spring, about half of the residential accounts were delinquent.

About 24,400 residents have worked out payment plans since the shutoffs began. For those who haven’t settled their accounts, a final information session was held at the Cobo Center.

The motion filed to stop the shutoffs was filed as part of a class action lawsuit, Lyda et.al, filed against the city of Detroit on behalf of affected residents whose water bills were in arrears. Plaintiffs also include organizations active in the fight for the restoration of and affordable access to water including Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, People’s Water Board, National Action Network-Michigan Chapter and Moratorium Now!.

The lawsuit argues that that the DWSD began water shutoffs without adequate notice and against the most vulnerable residents, while commercial entities with delinquent accounts were left alone. The suit also argues that this violates the plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights.

The motion seeking a temporary moratorium was filed by Alice Jennings, who represents plaintiffs in the class action suit, said the shutoffs disproportionately affect low income children, senior citizens and disabled residents.

“A comprehensive water affordability plan, a viable bill dispute process, specific policies for landlord-tenant bills and a sustainable mechanism for evaluating the number of families in shutoff status or at risk for shutoff, is necessary prior to lifting the DWSD water shutoff moratorium,” Jennings said, according to a statement.

In March, DWSD began dispatching private contractors to begin shutting off water service to residents who were more than 60 days delinquent, or owed more than $150. Services were cut in more than 17,000 homes occupied by residents struggling under one of the highest rate structures in the country, Kary Moss, executive director of ACLU of Michigan, said. About 38 percent of Detroit residents live below the federal poverty line.

“The rush to resume shut offs when there are serious questions about the affordability plan, accuracy of bills, and issues with the water department’s ability to process disputes, means that the City of Detroit should get its house in order before turning off anyone else’s water,” Moss said.

The Rev. Charles Williams of the National action Network-Michigan Chapter said a plan developed by the city to address some of the issues raised in the lawsuit and by civil rights is only a Band-Aid.

“Until actual policies are in place to ensure that residents have access to affordable water, the water shut-offs cannot be resumed,” Williams said in the statement. “The current proposal for residents to enter into non-negotiable payment plans is only a short-term solution.”

In a letter to city officials last month, the two groups challenged the plan as poorly and unevenly implemented, in violation of civil and human rights. Residents’ due process rights were also violated because the city often failed to provide them with adequate notice and a hearing to determine if they actually had the ability to pay, the ACLU and NAACP LDF said in the letter.

Cities have few options to collect delinquent accounts, according to The Detroit News report.

In Hamtramck, officials were able to turn a $350,000 deficit in the water fund into a $1.8 million surplus by shutting off service at 150 homes with delinquent homes. Another 350 customers paid delinquent bills to avoid a shut-off.

Public utility officials say the deficits hamper their ability to make critical infrastructure repairs that serve all customers.

“It’s not viable to let paying the water bill come to be seen as an option,” said Tom Curtis, deputy executive director of government affairs for the American Water Works Association, which represents more than 4,800 water systems nationwide.

“The utilities have an obligation to the broader city to make sure the utility is viable and sustainable to serve all the residents and business,” Curtis told The Detroit News. “You can’t let uncollected bills go on and on without a significant consequence.”