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Residents urge council to back water-affordability action as rates rise
Summary
Speakers at the committee meeting urged support for water-affordability measures after reported regional rate increases and steep reductions in Lifeline program funding, and asked the committee to back state bills cited in testimony.
During public comment to the Neighborhoods Committee, residents urged the council to press for water affordability after citing recent regional rate increases and cuts to assistance programs.
"We've seen a rate increase now of 5.2% average last year... and then this year, we have an average of 6.33%," said Cicely McClellan, who told the committee that roughly 60,000 Detroit households fall below 200% of the federal poverty level and are eligible for affordability programs. McClellan said contributions to the city's Lifeline program have fallen from about $30 million historically to approximately $4.5 million and that current funding would cover only a small share of eligible households.
McClellan called on the committee to support state legislation she cited during testimony (transcript references "House bill 4555" and a set of bill numbers also cited). "This is not water affordability," she said, urging the committee to "chime in on and support water affordability." No city vote was taken on the matter during the meeting; the comments were submitted as part of the public-comment record.
Separately, callers also raised transportation concerns, including unreliable bus service that commuters say forces them to leave home hours early. Committee members did not take immediate action on utilities or transit based on these comments; staff follow-up or formal referrals would appear in subsequent committee records if initiated.
