By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
A waiver of late fees for village water customers for April, May and June due to COVID-19, was extended until the end of the year by village council at its Aug. 11 virtual meeting.
According to Oxford Village Manager Joe Madore, there are currently about 100 accounts delinquent at least 30 days. There is no way for the administration to know if a water customer is delinquent due to COVID-19. “We have no indication if someone’s working, not working, collecting unemployment, not collecting unemployment. We have no information on that,” Madore told the council.
Typically, there are 50-75 delinquent accounts a month out of 1,100 properties and 1,300 meters in the village.
Village President Joe Frost saidthe difference “may be an indication these residents and water customers are experiencing hardship due to the current situation with Covid and the economy. I think we need to continue to be diligent about extending grace to our residents in this time because we don’t know their situation. We’re still in a global pandemic.”
Frost emphasized the bills are still due and need to be paid. The moratorium only applies to bills due within this calendar year.
Late fee revenues for the 2019-20 fiscal year were budgeted at $9,000 and ended at $6,722 on June 30.
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At the same meeting, the council also voted to opt in to an Emergency Water Assistance Relief Program under Michigan Senate Bill 690.
The program will provide up to $25 million in assistance “for water and wastewater utilities to help eligible households retain water service as an essential public health method to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
The funds will be distributed through the Community Action Agency (CAA) network. Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency (OLHSA) is the local CAA organization for Oxford.
To be eligible, a residential water customer must already be eligible for the food assistance program and must have accumulated new bills or fees after March 1, 2020 and during the COVID-19 state of emergency order. As part of the program, the village agreed to forgive 25 percent of bills for these customers from the end of the state of emergency until Dec. 1, 2020. (At this time, the state of emergency has been extended through Sept. 4.)
Village Attorney Bob Davis spoke highly of the program. “People who have qualified under the food aspect have been very well-scrutinized,” Davis said. “They are basically allowing that vetting process to continue here. This is a very good program, very well-vetted, very narrowly defined and the money gets into the right hands.