After water bills for some Somerville residents shot up to hundreds or thousands of dollars due to a usage collection error, the City Council is trying to help those residents directly.
At an April 25 meeting, Ward 1 councilor Matthew McLaughlin suggested that the city use leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding – federal Covid-recovery money – to assist residents with high water bills directly.
“It could at least help people with their interest that’s accumulating,” McLaughlin said.
That interest rate is set by Massachusetts General Law at 14 percent, said councilor at large Jake Wilson, a requirement he’d like to see the state change.
The high water bills came after the city replaced residents’ broken water meter transmitters over the past year. While residents’ water use was tracked accurately, the information was not transmitted to the city properly, so the Water and Sewer department estimated residents’ use and billed them for the guesses.
When the actual water data was collected, residents were charged retroactively for their correct use – occasionally resulting in large required back payments. McLaughlin said he knows of one resident that faces a $25,000 water bill.
“Even a person of wealth would have a difficult time paying that off in an expedient fashion,” he said.
Ward 4 councilor Jesse Clingan said he supports “anything that will help relieve some of the pressure” that residents face due to water bills, and he recommended that residents attend Kristen Strezo’s public hearing on water bills on May 15.
Along with Strezo, McLaughlin’s resolution was co-sponsored by councilors Judy Pineda Neufeld, Naima Sait and Wilfred Mbah.
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