Low-income Vancouver residents behind on their city water and sewer bills will soon be able to get relief, thanks to a Utility Assistance Program passed Monday by the Vancouver City Council.
The city council will seed Vancouver’s assistance program with $100,000 — taken from the $527,000 in late fees collected on overdue city utility bills — to get started, but then businesses and individuals are expected to keep it moving. City water customers could make one-time or ongoing tax-deductible contributions, Public Works Director Brian Carlson said.
The program, which is set to begin in late summer, will provide as much as $200 once every 24 months. The average bill for a family of four is $132 every other month.
Carlson stressed that the program is intended to be an emergency hand up for those who “have either had their service turned off or are in dire danger,” he said. “This would not be ongoing.”
Vancouver’s program is modeled on Clark Public Utilities’ longtime electric bill assistance program, Operation Warm Heart, which is funded entirely by donations, Carlson said. The same people who qualify for Operation Warm Heart are also eligible for the city program, and Clark Public Utilities agreed to screen customers for the city program for free. For both programs, households must be at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level. About 5,000 people could qualify for the assistance under the federal standards, but not every person may need it, Vancouver Utility Administration Manager Amy Sorenson said.
The city council voted 6-0 in favor of the program; Councilor Bart Hansen brought the assistance program forward, but recused himself from voting due to his job as office services manager for Clark Public Utilities.
‘The right thing to do’
Councilor Jack Burkman pointed out that the seed money is coming from late fees — already a windfall portion of the city’s water and sewer fund — while Councilor Larry Smith called it “the right thing to do.”
“The quality of a community is judged by how it cares for its people, and that includes local government,” Smith said. “I’m always confident this community will step forward when there’s a need out there.”
The $100,000 will be approved as part of the city’s spring supplemental budget. City water customers will be informed via an insert in their bimonthly bill about when and how to donate.
Councilor Jeanne Harris said she hopes to revisit the program in a year to find out how much is being donated and to see if it needs additional help to keep going. Carlson said that Operation Warm Heart gets between $75,000 to $100,000 a year in donations and Vancouver is hoping to raise that as well.
Councilor Jeanne Stewart said that if it weren’t for the recession, she would not be in favor of the assistance.
“My take on it is, if we don’t get adequate contributions, this thing may go away,” she said.
Other, smaller startup costs include $6,300 to print envelopes for donors, a one-time $5,400 fee to Clark County to process the donations, plus an ongoing handling fee of 12 cents to 20 cents per donation. Supplies, postage and staff time costs are uncertain, Sorenson said.
“I truly believe that a lot of people who get this assistance, when they get back on their feet, will donate, themselves,” Sorenson said.
Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542, twitter.com/col_cityhall or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.
