Blaine City Council voted 5-1 to delay the October 28 deadline for utility shutoffs by one week in order to give customers behind on payments time to pay their bills or create repayment plans. Over 100 customers face shutoffs Thursday, November 4 if they don’t take action.
During the October 25 city council meeting, finance director Dan Heverling said 106 residents with delinquent accounts were at risk of having their utility services turned off. Only 37 people had started repayment plans and those late on utility bills owe the city over $250,000, Heverling said. Delinquent accounts range from $100 to $5,500.
“If people come to us and say they want to be on a payment plan, we’ll put them on one,” Heverling said. “We’ve reached out numerous times to people and sent them numerous advisements the shut off is
happening.”
The city still has $30,000 of the $40,000 American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to paying customers’ utility bills with the federal coronavirus stimulus package.
Customers’ utility debt – which includes wastewater, drinking water, stormwater and electricity – impacts the rates of other customers.
Since the utility moratorium began 18 months ago, the city has contacted customers through mailers and phone calls about the moratorium deadline and payment plan options, according to a press release from the city of Blaine’s finance department.
In March 2020, governor Jay Inslee issued an emergency order that prevented utility providers from turning off water and electricity, an order that was extended several times until the final extension expired September 30. Inslee required utility providers to keep utilities on while they created payment plans, which created an October 28 deadline for shutoffs in Blaine, according to the city’s press release.
To give residents a final chance to resolve their accounts, city council voted to extend the shutoffs until November 4. Councilmember Garth Baldwin voted in opposition while councilmember Eric Davidson abstained.
Baldwin said council had this conversation almost two years ago. “‘We’re not going to shut these people off, we’re going to let everybody know, we’re going to send out postcards, we’re going to keep communication open, we’re going to find out who needs help and reach out to them,’” he said, paraphrasing those conversations. “We did our due diligence. I’m sorry, seriously, I really am, but my gosh, someday the time comes when it’s fish or cut bait.”
Davidson said he felt the city had done its due diligence.
According to Blaine Municipal Code, people typically need to pay the full amount of past due bills to have services turned on, but Jones said because of the previous moratorium, people can pay their most recent bill and get on a payment plan.
Jones said if someone could only afford their current month’s bill, they could start a payment plan as long as they stayed current on future bills and the payment plan. If someone is unable to pay for either, Jones said they would be referred to the Community Assistance Program and the local nonprofit would likely pay for the person’s first three payments. This would mean the person would qualify for the city to make the next three payments so the person would have six months paid.
“Frankly, anybody who hasn’t been paying attention, doesn’t know about this or hasn’t been coming to us, has been ignoring utility billing,” Jones said. “We’ve done a lot.”
Jones also addressed councilmember Charlie Hawkins’ concern that Canadian customers who may have not received notices in the mail, saying they could still receive calls from the city and people who know they haven’t paid can also call the city.
“Of these 106, there are a portion who will probably pay if they’re shut off,” Heverling said. “Once it comes down to actually shutting those utilities off, we’re expecting some of them will come in and pay.”
Customers with past due accounts can contact the city about payment plans by calling 360/332-8311 or by visiting city hall at 435 Martin Street,
suite 3000.
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