KC Water announces it will resume water shut-offs. Council quickly overrules it
KC Water announced Thursday it would once again shut off water service for those who hadn’t paid bills, halting a months-long policy meant to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within hours, the City Council reversed the decision.
“One advantage of local control of this department is that we can actually vote on decisions like this and reverse them. Expect us to do so soon,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted Thursday afternoon, responding to the water department’s announcement.
Hours later, council members voted 12-1 in favor of a same-day resolution to reverse the KC Water decision and suspend shut-offs through at least mid January, when the city’s current emergency order ends. The legislation also asked the city manager to report back with a plan to provide assistance to residents struggling to pay their bills.
In a press release, Lucas said the city had a “duty to approach these unusual circumstances with compassion and understanding.”
“It would be cruel and inappropriate to shut off residents’ water during a global pandemic,” Lucas said.
Councilwoman Andrea Bough, 6th District at-large, cosponsored the legislation.
“No one should be without water services due to COVID-19,” Bough said. “There are ways to manage delinquent accounts that do not harm Kansas Citians who are financially struggling due to this pandemic.”
KC Water announced March 13 that it would not shut off water service to those who were late on payments. In April, the City Council decided to halt late fees.
In a tweet announcing the reversal on Thursday, the utility called that a “common sense and compassionate response to the challenges presented by the pandemic.”
“As a non-profit utility, it’s time to resume our normal business processes and shut-offs will start again in November,” the tweet said.
In a press release announcing its plan to resume shut-offs, the department said residents could reach out for utility assistance.
“We understand the financial hardship that was placed on some of our customers and want to assist them where we can to ensure they have access to clean water. KC Water is an essential workforce and will continue to provide vital water, wastewater, and stormwater services,” Terry Leeds, the department’s director, said.
John Clarkson, customer service utility officer, said in the release that the agency had assistance available for residents, but that few people were seeking it.
Council members debated whether to pass the policy swiftly or send it to committee for debate. After Lucas and Bough noted that they learned the news on Twitter, Robinson said that the department did notify a City Council committee of its plan.
Robinson said she didn’t like throwing city staffers “under the bus.”
Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw also expressed concern about the small number of residents requesting assistance.
Even though the department isn’t shutting off residents’ water, bills are still due. Unpaid bills will pile up even while residents’ service continues.
Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, 4th District at-large, made a motion to refer the legislation to committee to talk through those issues, but no other member seconded it.
Shields was the lone vote against the legislation.
After the vote, KC Water said in a statement that it would continue the shut-off moratorium in compliance with the legislation.
“We look forward to working with City Council to help our customers who are struggling to pay their bills,” the department said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
