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Santa Rosa staff outline options to shore up ‘Help to Others’ water-bill assistance program
Summary
City staff told the Board of Public Utilities the Help to Others program is running a structural shortfall after telecom lease revenue declined; staff recommended reducing the fixed-charge subsidy to 75% to buy time, while board members urged exploring a 50% subsidy or adding participants with careful staffing-cost analysis.
Kevin Buchanan, the water department’s budget and financial analysis manager, told the Santa Rosa Board of Public Utilities that the city’s Help to Others bill-assistance program — in place since 2014 — currently pays 100% of customers’ fixed water and fixed sewer charges for qualifying low-income households, roughly $45 a month for a typical account.
Buchanan said the city began a wait list in October 2024 because lease revenues that subsidize the program have declined. "That wait list is fairly long now. We're up over 300," he said, and later noted the program presently serves about 724 customers. He identified recent lease losses — T‑Mobile ended a lease and DISH notified the city it would not renew — that together reduced revenue by roughly $354,000 this year and imperil the program’s long‑term funding.
The staff presentation outlined scenarios showing the program would exhaust funds under a “do…
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