City of Norwich offering assistance with delinquent water bills
The Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) will provide up to $2,500 for delinquent drinking water bills or wastewater bills, or up to $5,000 for delinquent combined drinking water and wastewater bills. (Photo by Sarah Genter)
NORWICH — The City of Norwich has signed a vendor agreement for the New York State Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), which assists low-income households on repaying delinquent drinking water and wastewater bills.
The program is provided through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, and is funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the 2021 American Rescue Plan. The funds will provide each approved household up to $2,500 for drinking water, $2,500 for wastewater, or $5,000 for both.
"It's based on eligibility, but what they do is they apply and then the payment comes directly to the city, and it's for delinquent water bills. So they'll pay their whole account up to that $5,000 total, but the actual person has to apply for it," explained City of Norwich Director of Finance Dee DuFour.
According to a resolution passed during the December 7, 2021 special common council meeting, the program first began in December of 2021, and it will run until September 30, 2023, or until funds have been exhausted. Assistance is available for both homeowners and renters who pay their own water bills. Landlords who rent properties in which the tenant pays for water or wastewater are unable to apply.
Information and the application can be found at otda.ny.gov/LIHWAP. Information and links have also been provided on the City of Norwich website, norwichnewyork.net, and the City of Norwich Facebook page.
Applicants will be asked to provide proof of identity, proof of residence, proof of earned and unearned income, household size, and records of water and/or wastewater bills. There are also monthly income limits based on household size, which can be found on the state website.
DuFour explained that applying for funds to cover delinquent water and wastewater bills is up to the individual, and processed by the state. After the individual has been approved, money to cover the balance in their delinquent account, up to $5,000, is sent directly to the city.
"The application process, all of that is all done through the state, we don’t see any of that. We only receive the payment through what they call the Statewide Funding System. So it’s through New York State, we just get an electronic payment for it and whose account it goes to," she said.
Currently, the City of Norwich has approximately 372 delinquent water and wastewater accounts, which makes up about 15 percent of the total accounts. City of Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver said COVID caused the number of delinquencies to go up slightly, partly due to a state mandated pause on water shut offs.
"Obviously it went up a little bit with COVID, because we were not allowed to shut anybody off for a period of time," Doliver said. "All that grew. Usually when people get their water shut off then they get an incentive to pay that off. So some people might’ve gotten themselves really far behind."
The pause on shut offs began in March of 2020, and is currently set to be lifted on July 1 of this year. However, residents are still billed for water and wastewater services, and late fees are still in effect for late payments. According to DuFour, the average water bill in the City of Norwich is around $207 per quarter, and each unpaid quarter adds on a five percent late fee.
"So you have 45 days to pay, and then after that it’s a five percent late fee," she explained. "Then you won’t get another late fee until the three months, another bill comes out, they’ll have the 45 days and then if it’s still not paid after that time they’ll have five percent on whatever the outstanding balance is."
Generally, account balances only increase from the late fees, as services have been turned off and cannot be reinstated until delinquent accounts have been paid. However, with the pause on shut offs, households are now able to rack up charges on multiple billing periods.
"The way that a disconnect happened prior to, once you were disconnected you couldn’t be reconnected until you paid whatever delinquent amount was due. So that’s the way it worked prior to COVID," said DuFour. "But we’ve never had a situation where you could have two years worth of bills, because before you would only have one billing cycle, so you would just have a three month billing cycle period. That’s what you were disconnected for," said DuFour. "So I don’t really know what will happen because we've never had such a situation like this."
The LIHWAP can be a needed reprieve for those who have built up delinquent accounts, and DuFour said one Norwich resident has already utilized the program. While a timeframe for how fast the program works isn't available, DuFour said she expects the process to move fairly quickly.
"I would imagine it’s pretty quick," she said. "The program really hasn’t been out there that long and we’ve already received a payment for one."
"We're trying to make sure people understood that the bills aren’t going to go away," said Doliver. "We’re just trying to get the word out to make sure people have something else to help them along."
The program is provided through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, and is funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the 2021 American Rescue Plan. The funds will provide each approved household up to $2,500 for drinking water, $2,500 for wastewater, or $5,000 for both.
"It's based on eligibility, but what they do is they apply and then the payment comes directly to the city, and it's for delinquent water bills. So they'll pay their whole account up to that $5,000 total, but the actual person has to apply for it," explained City of Norwich Director of Finance Dee DuFour.
According to a resolution passed during the December 7, 2021 special common council meeting, the program first began in December of 2021, and it will run until September 30, 2023, or until funds have been exhausted. Assistance is available for both homeowners and renters who pay their own water bills. Landlords who rent properties in which the tenant pays for water or wastewater are unable to apply.
Information and the application can be found at otda.ny.gov/LIHWAP. Information and links have also been provided on the City of Norwich website, norwichnewyork.net, and the City of Norwich Facebook page.
Applicants will be asked to provide proof of identity, proof of residence, proof of earned and unearned income, household size, and records of water and/or wastewater bills. There are also monthly income limits based on household size, which can be found on the state website.
DuFour explained that applying for funds to cover delinquent water and wastewater bills is up to the individual, and processed by the state. After the individual has been approved, money to cover the balance in their delinquent account, up to $5,000, is sent directly to the city.
"The application process, all of that is all done through the state, we don’t see any of that. We only receive the payment through what they call the Statewide Funding System. So it’s through New York State, we just get an electronic payment for it and whose account it goes to," she said.
Currently, the City of Norwich has approximately 372 delinquent water and wastewater accounts, which makes up about 15 percent of the total accounts. City of Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver said COVID caused the number of delinquencies to go up slightly, partly due to a state mandated pause on water shut offs.
"Obviously it went up a little bit with COVID, because we were not allowed to shut anybody off for a period of time," Doliver said. "All that grew. Usually when people get their water shut off then they get an incentive to pay that off. So some people might’ve gotten themselves really far behind."
The pause on shut offs began in March of 2020, and is currently set to be lifted on July 1 of this year. However, residents are still billed for water and wastewater services, and late fees are still in effect for late payments. According to DuFour, the average water bill in the City of Norwich is around $207 per quarter, and each unpaid quarter adds on a five percent late fee.
"So you have 45 days to pay, and then after that it’s a five percent late fee," she explained. "Then you won’t get another late fee until the three months, another bill comes out, they’ll have the 45 days and then if it’s still not paid after that time they’ll have five percent on whatever the outstanding balance is."
Generally, account balances only increase from the late fees, as services have been turned off and cannot be reinstated until delinquent accounts have been paid. However, with the pause on shut offs, households are now able to rack up charges on multiple billing periods.
"The way that a disconnect happened prior to, once you were disconnected you couldn’t be reconnected until you paid whatever delinquent amount was due. So that’s the way it worked prior to COVID," said DuFour. "But we’ve never had a situation where you could have two years worth of bills, because before you would only have one billing cycle, so you would just have a three month billing cycle period. That’s what you were disconnected for," said DuFour. "So I don’t really know what will happen because we've never had such a situation like this."
The LIHWAP can be a needed reprieve for those who have built up delinquent accounts, and DuFour said one Norwich resident has already utilized the program. While a timeframe for how fast the program works isn't available, DuFour said she expects the process to move fairly quickly.
"I would imagine it’s pretty quick," she said. "The program really hasn’t been out there that long and we’ve already received a payment for one."
"We're trying to make sure people understood that the bills aren’t going to go away," said Doliver. "We’re just trying to get the word out to make sure people have something else to help them along."
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