City Council Minutes 2021 07 27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes July 27, 2021 Page 9 of 13 due balances during the COVID-19 pandemic and allows two months of notification before late fees will be imposed and disconnections scheduled. Any customers facing penalties or disconnections will be directed to the City's Utility Bill Assistance Program through Sister Carmen Community Center (SCCC). SCCC is also administering the City's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Community Assistance Program, and is able to refer households to other services they may need. The City included an additional $5,000 in the 2021 budget amendment for utility bill assistance for customers in need, and will maintain regular contact with SCCC to understand the status of the fund and when funds are fully utilized by City residents in need. Staff will complete a variety of outreach measures to inform residents about the return to pre-COVID billing requirements. This ordinance may result in a reduction of outstanding utility payments and unpaid utility bills. It also may require additional financial assistance to City residents who are unable to pay their utility bill. Staff recommends approval of the ordinance. Public Comments — None. Councilmember Leh proposed adding language to require City staff to inform delinquent utility accounts of all of their options. Councilmember Dickinson stated he would prefer to not take action now and allow it to automatically revert back when the official declaration of emergency is over. Mayor Stolzmann asked what trends staff is seeing for utility delinquency. Deputy City Manager Davis stated staff is seeing more people in arrears for a longer period of time. Currently, if they are unable to pay they are not contacted but if the process is reinstated staff would be able to contact people to tell them of available resources that could help them with these payments before they are so far in arrears they can never catch up. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney stated it is important that the utility is financially stable and the Council has increased funding for those in arrears. The best option is to make sure people know about that option and use it if needed. We all want to make sure those that are struggling get the help they need. Councilmember Lipton stated the Council shouldn't tie this to the emergency declaration. We still need that declaration for reasons related to state and federal funding. We need to be working with residents who are in arrears so no one is continuing to roll over their bills to such a high sum they can never pay it. Councilmember Brown stated he supports the ordinance so that staff can work with residents to connect more people to the services they need.