Detroit Evening Report: City secures funding to extend water affordability plan

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” podcast.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s income-based water affordability plan is being extended another two years after the city reportedly secured additional funding to support the program.


Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.


Known as the Lifeline Plan, the program lowers Detroiters’ water bills between $18 and $56 per month based on income, erases debt from past due water bills and protects participants from water shutoffs. Detroiters’ household income must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level to be eligible. More than 24,000 Detroit households are enrolled in the program, which also requires participants to keep their water usage within limits set by the city.

Some water affordability advocates have concerns about the ability to sustain the program, which has cost the city approximately $32.4 million.

When the city launched the Lifeline Plan in August 2022, it had enough funding to continue the program for a year and a half, Outlier Media reports, but has since secured additional funding to sustain it through the end of 2025. Some of that funding will come from the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, the nonprofit enrolling residents into the program, as well as additional funding from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services grants.

Eligible Detroit residents can apply for the Lifeline Plan online or call 313-386-9727.

Other headlines for Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023:

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org. 

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

Author

  • Hernz Laguerre
    Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.