Detroit's new water affordability plan has about a year and a half of funding. City officials want more people to apply.
Detroit's Lifeline Plan sets water bills at a fixed monthly rate for poor residents. The city's water department moved 2,500 households onto the new affordability program. Its director, Gary Brown, says more than 19,000 households still qualify. "Success will be we get people enrolled in the program," he says.
Brown says Detroit will be able to build a better case for federal funding to support the program if more people apply and use it. While customers on the Lifeline Plan will pay between $18 and $56 a month for water, that rate could increase if they use more than 4,500 gallons a month.