Sweetwater Authority received $633,540 from the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program that covered residential and commercial water debt accrued between March 4, 2020, and June 15, 2021. Administered by the California State Water Resources Control Board, the funds were distributed directly to the Authority and applied to delinquent accounts to cover outstanding balances, with unused funds being returned to the state.
Sweetwater Authority Director of Finance Rich Stevenson said that only bills for customers delinquent in the marked period were eligible for this grant and that the Authority applied for $615,000, and by the time the grant came, some of the delinquent customers had already paid their bills.
“At the end of the day, we actually applied $532,000 to customers for bills in that time frame,” he said. “Unfortunately, bills outside of that time frame, we still have approximately $800,000 in water bills that have still not been paid and were not eligible for the funding from the state.”
Stevenson said because it is a water agency, it cannot just write off the current debts as there are one set of customers subsidizing another set of customers, so the Authority needs to try to collect those funds. He said that National City Mayor and Authority Board Chair Alejandra Sotelo-Solis has a knack in getting constituents what they need.
“Our Board recognizes that the financial impacts of COVID-19 have adversely affected our community,” said Sotelo-Solis in a press release. “We are committed to working with our customers to make sure that everyone has access to safe and reliable water, and ample time to work through the challenges that we are still facing from the pandemic.”
Stevenson said Sotelo-Solis said that they had done everything they could do so far and suggested that the Authority reach out to its bank, Union Bank, to see if there were any types of financial literacy classes that could be some sort of help to its customers.
“Union Bank has a budgeting class that is about an hour long,” he said. “Some people may not have concept of budgeting and bills, and this might be of some use for customers.”
Stevenson said that its customer service personnel are attempting to contact delinquent customers.
“This is not an effort to punish customers,” he said. “This is our responsibility to collect these debts, so we need to contact these customers to see what we can do to work with them to make it easier to get these past-due bills paid. The extended payment plan is our biggest tool right now and knowing that this is hard on our customers and that we understand that. We are trying to do anything we can to provide any assistance to them now.”
In spring 2020, to assist customers, the Governing Board extended payment plan options from 12 months to 24 months. The Authority has been working closely with customers to arrange payment plans and provide information on accounts. Customers are encouraged to reach out to the Authority’s Customer Service Department at (619) 420-1413 to discuss the specific needs of their account.
Authority Public Affairs Manager Leslie Payne said that the Authority encourages customers to pay what they can when they can, and with the two year extension, it makes it easier for customers to spread that debt over time.
“Our Board has been insightful, knowing that this pandemic would be a hard hit for our community,” she said. “Our Board was really mindful of that early on.”
Stevenson said the Authority tries its best to see what third party programs are out there to help customers in needs of assistance. He said the most successful program is calling 2-1-1, as it supplies additional places to go to in seeing if they can receive financial help.
Payne said there are some upcoming workshops from Union Bank for customers to attend and that Authority staff would be present at those meetings.
“We really encourage customers to work with us, call our Customer Service folks. We are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.,” she said. “Every account, every situation is different, so we are trying to customize plans that works best for the families and folks that live in our service area.”
Stevenson said one more tool is water efficiency.
“It is hard to suggest people to use less water because they might be financially challenged, but at the end of the day it is another option. If you do reduce your water use, you will see lower water bills,” he said. “And reducing your water use is something we all need to be conscience of living in Southern California.”
Union Bank free webinars: Managing Personal Finances will be held in English on March 10 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Spanish session will be held on March 8 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. To access the Zoom link for these meetings, visit www.sweetwater.org/webinar.
In a previous version of this story Rich Stevenson was incorrectly identified as Sweetwater Authority Director. Stevenson is the Sweetwater Authority Director of Finance. The Star-News regrets the error.
