RICHMOND, Va. -- In a letter to customers, Richmond Public Utilities said it will resume turning off peoples' water and gas after it paused disconnections during the pandemic.
"It makes sense. It's a service that I've been receiving, but I also think some additional assistance for those that were impacted from COVID would be very helpful," Richmond resident Alyssa Holliday said when she heard the news.
Holliday has lived in Jackson Ward for 14 years, but the past three have been the most challenging.
In December 2020, Holliday said she became infected with COVID-19, suffered a stroke, and lost her job.
Due to the lingering impacts of long-haul disease, she said it's been difficult to re-enter the workforce. Amid financial woes, paying the bills fell by the wayside.
“I stopped paying my utilities. I also had no money to pay my utilities," Holliday said. “I honestly haven’t even looked at [the bill], because whatever it is, I don’t have the funds for it, so it’d just kind of be disheartening.”
The City of Richmond is missing out on more than $60 million in unpaid utility bills, according to a recent audit. That number has almost doubled since the pandemic.
More than three years after DPU suspended disconnections in March 2020, disconnections will resume this spring. A more specific timeframe has not been made clear.
"Resuming disconnections is not an easy decision, nor is it taken lightly," DPU Director April Bingham wrote in a letter. "DPU recognizes customers are still in need of financial assistance and are pleased to announce two new assistance programs."
The new programs include flexible payment plans in which benefits include lower down payments, longer repayment terms, and a variety of payment plan options.
Qualified customers can also apply for a federally funded low-income household water assistance program.
Eligible customers must have a past-due balance and a gross household income below 150% of the federal poverty level.
"Do I think that they should start disconnecting water right now? No, I don't. But I do think they have to take some type of action because we do have to pay for our services," Holliday said. "But I don't think it's time to cut it off yet, and I do think that providing assistance to those that really need it is really, really important."
She added, "It will become exponentially harder for me to rejoin the workforce if I'm within a residence that doesn't have water. So, I really think that revisiting the individuals that aren't paying and coming up with some type of system to weed out those that are taking advantage of the system and move forward from there."
Bingham urged anyone with an overdue balance to apply for help in order to avoid having their bills sent to collections or their utilities turned off.
The resumption of disconnections comes as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney proposed raising utility rates by 8%, amid a city-declared housing crisis, which could cost the average family about $9 per month or more than $100 per year.
"Which is significant," Holliday said, adding the proposed increase comes as her property taxes also just skyrocketed.
City officials have said the proposed hike in rates is due to the increased "cost of doing business," lower water consumption and to help cover the 8% increase in pay wages for city employees.
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