Southeast Michigan mayors, county leaders show support for water affordability legislation

A coalition of city and county leaders from southeast Michigan joined in support Monday for legislation to create a statewide water bill affordability program.

“Water affordability is essentially a human right, and creating programs to continue that idea, that thought process is going to benefit many people and many people in need,” said Assad Turfe, Wayne County deputy executive, who attended a news conference on the issue in Royal Oak.  

A package of bills in Lansing would create statewide shutoff protections and form an affordability program for low-income water customers in the Department of Health and Human Services. Water bills would not exceed 3% of a household's income, with tiers developed for lower thresholds based on the federal poverty limit. Eligible customers would be households that earn up to 200% of the federal poverty limit or are receiving other kinds of state or federal assistance.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller has been speaking out against the legislation, and 17 Macomb County communities, including St. Clair Shores and Clinton Township, have passed resolutions this winter opposing it. Miller told The Detroit News that many communities in southeast Michigan already are paying into another water affordability program through the Great Lakes Water Authority. She said the program would raise rates for Macomb County residents.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said under the city of Detroit’s water assistance program, qualifying households pay $18 a month, and everyone else pays a regular bill. The program is partially funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a short-term funding source.

“The problem is: what happens when that funding runs out? And what this legislation says is, ‘Let’s do this fairly. How about if everyone pays a little bit,’” he said. Under the legislation, Michigan households would pay a $2 fee on top of their water bill.

Coulter said almost a third of Oakland County’s residents have trouble meeting basic monthly household needs. He said the legislation could benefit any community and would help water providers continue to upgrade aging infrastructure, according to a press release.

Others supporting the legislation included Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor; Royal Oak Mayor Mike Fournier; Warren Councilmembers Hal Newnan and Melody Magee; and Harper Wood Mayor Valerie Kindle.

Magee, the Warren council vice president, said Warren needs water affordability programs.

“The critical importance of water cannot be overstated,” she said. “Water sustains life.”

According to a news release at the news conference, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services found in 2020 that more than 317,000 Michigan households were behind on their water bills and facing shutoffs.

Miller said the county doesn’t use all of its money in its current assistance program, the Great Lakes Water Authority's Residential Assistance Program. She said that under the proposed legislation, money would be taken out of Macomb County communities and go elsewhere.

“This is money that we could use for our own infrastructure, instead of giving it to another county," she said.

The issue emerges as some Metro Detroit communities have balked at legislation to erase Highland Park's tens of millions of dollars in water debt and address infrastructure issues using taxpayer dollars. When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer initially announced the deal in mid-October, some suburban officials commended it and others questioned whether they'll be reimbursed for years of footing the city's debt.

The state deal, signed by Whitmer in December, provides $30 million to seal an agreement to resolve the decade-long battle over Highland Park's water bills.