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Commission backs narrower-but-broader utility assistance plan, recommends aligning short-term and solid-waste rebates
Summary
The commission voted 7–0 to recommend Option B: expand eligibility for the long-term utility bill assistance program to all low-income households at 50% AMI while lowering the long-term credit from 70% to 50%; staff estimated the program could scale from about 1,000 current enrollees toward several thousand and would increase annual program costs materially.
The Environmental Services Commission on March 5 recommended a policy change to expand Bellevue’s long-term utility bill assistance program, voting 7–0 to endorse Option B: drop the age and disability restriction and open the program to all low-income households at 50% of area median income (AMI), while reducing the long-term credit from 70% of basic utility costs to 50%.
Hannah Abdulhaman, program administrator for the utility bill assistance program, described the existing portfolio of five programs and said the long-term discount currently targets seniors and permanently disabled residents at or below 50% AMI. “If someone qualifies for our utility discount program…they get a 70% bill credit,” she…
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