06-28-2021 BPU RPT 18 - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 20, 2021 Chair Spiegel and Board of Supervisors Riverside County 4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 RE: Request for immediate relief for 2020 past -due public water and sewer customers Dear Chair Spiegel and Riverside County Board of Supervisors, On behalf of our customers who are experiencing financial hardship created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the undersigned water and wastewater (sewer) service providers respectfully request $25 million in direct relief from Riverside County's American Relief Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Funding allocation. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to profoundly impact many aspects of our communities, including our residents and businesses who continue to struggle to pay their utility bills. As of March 2021, the total combined number of past -due customer accounts within the undersigned agencies is almost 70,000, of which includes more than 210,000 county residents and nearly $34 million owed by our customers. Unlike property owners and investor-owned utility companies such as Southern California Edison and SoCalGas, Proposition 218 prohibits water and sewer service providers from subsidizing the water and sewer bills of any customer with revenue received from any other paying customers. In other words, public utilities are legally prohibited from forgiving any or all of a customer's past -due balance. Additionally, while other forms of federal, state, and local water and sewer relief programs are currently available to customers, we have collectively received only about $185,000 from CAP CARES in utility assistance. While this is greatly appreciated, you can see we still have a long way to go in providing billing relief for customers. With this in mind, we respectfully urge the Board to help alleviate our financially stressed customers' water and sewer debt with a one-time allocation of $25 million of the County's ARPA State and Local Relief directly to water and wastewater providers. Our request is within the legal framework of how the funds can be applied (ARPA statute P.L. 117-2, section 602) and specifically states that a direct transfer of funds to a special unit of government, such as special district that provides water and wastewater service. This was confirmed by the Department of Treasury guidance that was released on May 10, 2021 (31CFR Part 35, RIN 1505-AC77, page 105). Our request to support 2020 arrearages is a little over five percent of the $479.874 million allocated to Riverside County from the federal government. By directing funds to public utility providers, we can provide the fastest relief possible to your constituents and prioritize customers who need the most help. We look forward to hearing from you so that staff can offer further information and discuss next steps. For more information about this collective request, please contact Craig Miller, General Manager of Western Municipal District and Chair of the Riverside County Water Task Force, at cmiller@wmwd.com or 951.571.7242.