The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) discussed during its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday the $985 million California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program.
Staff presented the results of the survey the SWRCB disseminated to 2,844 community water systems statewide, which gathered data about the pandemic’s financial impacts on water systems due to customer non-payments. The most important takeaway from the meeting is that the fund can cover 100% of the arrearages claimed. The total amount of arrearages reported was $315,400,661. Of this number:
- 86 percent reflects residential accounts
- 14 percent reflects commercial accounts
- $101 million represents the total for accounts less than $600 in arrearages
- $214 million represents the total for accounts greater than $600 in arrearages
SWRCB staff also addressed feedback received during a September 10th workshop about the program. Some of the items discussed included:
- Late fees (an additional $16,009,161 claimed) will remain ineligible for reimbursement, but districts can receive an additional three percent of their total arrearage reimbursement for administrative-related costs of the program.
- Data sharing with other financial assistance programs will be recommended but not required.
- Because the fund can cover all arrearages, systems will not need to prioritize which customers’ arrearages to address first.
- Districts will be advised to split the credits placed on customer bills into two years for tax purposes. The State continues to seek guidance and clarification on this issue.
Disbursement of funds under this program will begin no later than November 1, 2021, and will be completed by January 31, 2022. Since it is now known that the fund will have a significant amount of money unused by drinking water systems, a wastewater arrearages program is assured. Staff reported that this program is currently in design and will be established no later than February 1, 2022.
For additional details, visit www.waterboards.ca.gov/arrearage_payment_program/.