Water Officials Say They’re Boosting Efforts to Collect on Delinquent Commercial Water Accounts
DWSD Responds to Concerns About Commercial Shutoffs
Yesterday on Detroit Today, host Stephen Henderson spoke with a Detroit News investigative reporter about water shutoffs that continue to plague Detroit. The report says that despite residents owing less in delinquent water bills than businesses, residents bear the brunt of the financial burden.
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department spokesman Bryan Peckinpaugh says DWSD is ramping up efforts to collect on delinquent commercial accounts.
“Our focus is to shutoff commercial places that are delinquent,” Peckinpaugh says. He added that the focus on residential shutoffs began when the Emergency Manager was in place and that the focus on commercial shut-offs will not impact any apartment buildings.
Peckinpaugh highlighted the available payment plans that DWSD offers such as WRAP and WAVE, adding that entering into one of these payment plans will get residents’ water turned back on.
In addition to making customer payment plans a priority for DWSD, Peckinpaugh said that in the, “next year or so we’re looking at our rate structure.” He says legally all customers are subject to the same water rates but that recently they have discussed state legislation that looks at the payment structure and payment plans as a possible solution to better address the issue of water shutoffs.
