Benton Harbor will have to step up bill collections and seek state help to keep its water system viable. City commissioners on Tuesday heard from consultant John Young, who has been helping the city develop a plan to submit to the state for the system. After previous meetings, the decision was made to maintain local control with some improvements. Young said Tuesday there’s a large gap between the system’s revenues and its expenses, and that will make doing so a challenge.
“We really need the state to step up, and we really need the customers to step up and pay their bills,” Young said. “We think if we can sell this to the state, we’ll basically give you the manual to take to the Legislature and say, here’s all we can afford, here’s what we need, and if we don’t get this, we’re going to have some potential financial issues.”
Young said a report on the city’s water plans is due to EGLE by March 10. After all the work to replace lead water lines, he said it’s time for residents to pay for their water again, although that still won’t meet all expenses.
“Now that the water is good, get that collection rate back up and then fill the gap with money from the Legislature.”
Young said the report to EGLE will be presented to city commissioners on March 6. It could serve as a roadmap for the city as it seeks state support for water operations while waiting for customer growth. He told commissioners as things stand, revenues for the water system are about half of operating expenses, and the city can’t keep bridging the gap with the general fund. Mayor Marcus Muhammad said the city lost a lot of water customers during emergency management, making this a “state-inflicted wound.”
