In 2016, Dekalb County, Georgia put a water shutoff moratorium in place to address decades-old billing issues and faulty infrastructure that left customers with bills exceeding $1,000 in some cases. The moratorium kept the water on and mitigated any financial harm while the County worked to replace meters and address disputed bills. Although a significant number of defective water meters have been replaced, there are still many residents who dispute the accuracy of their bill. Now the county plans to end the moratorium on September 1, despite the surge in COVID-19 cases and the ongoing billing issues.
If the County lifts the water shutoff moratorium before sufficient safeguards are in place, many residents who were overcharged for water service will be at risk of losing water access. This is unacceptable, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
Many residents are still reporting that they are receiving inaccurate bills. The county has replaced 70,000 meters, but did not always adjust bills after replacing these defective meters. There is a process for disputing the bills, but the process lacks transparency and remains unclear to residents. Many disputes were closed with the outcome “actual consumption,” meaning the County claims to have found no errors has refused to make any adjustment to the bill. However, many residents still disagree and believe their disputes weren’t adequately resolved. Residents have reported having difficulty getting through on the phone, sending documents that the County failed to upload to their file, and never receiving a written response to their dispute. The flawed dispute process has impacted communities of color the most.More than half of the disputes closed by the County and marked as “actual consumption” are in census tracts that are 80-100% Black.
Source: WSB-TV Atlanta
Residents also reported never being notified of additional layers of appeals they could pursue if they were unsatisfied with the handling of their dispute. Although roughly 30,000 disputes were logged by the County between 2016 and 2020, only 48 of those customers were able to appeal the outcome of their dispute to a senior-level review. Those 48 customers were disproportionately located in the northern half of the County in primarily white census tracts. Only two residents were able to have their account flagged for arbitration (the final level of review the County offers), and neither of those customers have yet had their dispute arbitrated.
Black communities in Georgia have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and aggressive water debt collection practices have been shown to have a disproportionate impact on communities of color. For example, Dekalb County’s policy of placing liens on homes for unpaid water debt had a disproportionate impact on the county’s Black residents when it was enforced. The County placed 510 liens on homes to secure payment of unpaid water debt between January 2017 and July 2019. 75% of those liens were placed in majority-Black census tracts.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Dekalb County has received $147.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. Some of this money could be used to bring these accounts current, particularly for residents that have been financially impacted by the pandemic. Lifting the shutoff moratorium before COVID-impacted residents have had a chance to apply for assistance would cause an extreme hardship to these residents. So far the County has instructed any residents with an arrearage to apply for a repayment plan, even though the repayment plan is likely to be unaffordable for those impacted by the economic downturn.
Water is life. We are still in the midst of a global pandemic that is disproportionately taking Black lives. DeKalb County must extend the water shutoff moratorium in order to prioritize the health and safety of its residents until proper measures have been implemented.
Let DeKalb County they need to keep the water running by contacting DeKalb County Commissioners individually at [BITLY LINK] or using the [BITLY] to send a pre-filled email to the County.
I’m joining @NAACP_LDF in urging @ItsInDekalb to #KeepTheWaterRunning. Water is essential to life and human dignity. Ending the water shutoff moratorium now without proper safeguards will unnecessarily put DeKalb residents’ health and safety at risk.
Between January 2017 and July 2019, 510 liens were placed on homes with unpaid water debt in DeKalb County. 75% of those liens were placed in majority-Black census tracts. Ending the water shutoff moratorium means putting thousands of Black families’ health and safety at risk.
DeKalb County received $147.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds. Instead of shutting off water accounts ending the water shutoff moratorium and potentially putting thousands of families at risk, the County should use these funds to assist residents. #KeepTheWaterRunning
Water is essential to human life and access to clean, running water is a key defense against #COVID19. Until @ItsInDekalb can implement safeguards that protect its residents from erroneous and inaccurate bills, we need to extend the moratorium and #KeepTheWaterRunning.
