UPDATE – The city announced Friday that in fact it will be continuing residential shutoffs in “mid- to late-April”, while also acknowledging that its payment plan program has not been successful: “a number” of delinquent customers have fallen into default again as rates rise as much as 16.7% this year alone. The failure of this policy to generate substantial revenue for the department and, more importantly, the failure to ensure secure access to clean water for all Detroiters both prove the urgent need to find alternative programs like the one we’ll anounce on April 1st.
We commend the city of Detroit on the decision to halt all residential water shutoffs until a true safety net is in place for families. On April 1st, we’ll unveil a major proposal to the people of Detroit that will constitute an equitable and financially-viable alternative to residential water shutoffs in our city.
In the meantime, we will continue to provide emergency relief to the thousands of Detroiters without reliable access to running water, as well as financial assistance through our Water Affordability Fund.
