City of Avenal recently issued the following announcement.
To view the original posting PDF, click here.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Water shutoffs to Resume in 2022
Please be advised that the State Water Shutoff Moratorium ended Dec 31, 2021. The City of Avenal Utility Billing Department will resume assessing late fees and generating water disconnections as of Jan 1st, 2022, Customers with unpaid balances for more than 60 days will be subject to shutoffs. The City of Avenal understands the financial hardships that some customers may be facing as a result of COVID-19 and the last thing we want is to shutoff your water. We are committed to working in partnership with our customers throughout these difficult times. Alternative Payment Arrangements / Extensions will be available to those who qualify. Any customer who is unable to pay for water service within the normal payment period may appeal the disconnection, request an alternative payment arrangement, and/or extension of time to pay in order to avoid disruption of service. Pursuant to Ca. Health and Safety Code §116910, if all three of the following conditions are met, an alternative payment arrangement and/or extension of time to pay will be granted:
• Health Conditions – a primary care provider certifies in writing that discontinuation of water service would be life threatening or pose a serious threat to the health/safety of a resident (can be any resident in the residence);
• Financial Inability – the customer declares that the household’s annual income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level and/or participates in public assistance programs such as Medi-Cal or CalWORKs;
• Payment Arrangements – the customer agrees to a payment arrangement as offered by the city. Such payment arrangement shall include either a temporary deferral of payment, or an amortization plan.
A temporary deferral of payment shall only be provided by the City if the customer provides a demonstrated ability to repay within the deferral period. A payment arrangement that extends into the next billing periods will be considered an amortization plan, which may be up to 12 months (at the discretion of the City), and which must be in writing and signed by the customer. The amortized payments will be combined with, and subject to the due date of, the customer's regular bill. The customer must comply with the terms of the amortization plan and remain current as charges accrue in each subsequent billing period. The customer may not request further amortization of any subsequent unpaid charges while paying delinquent charges pursuant to an amortization plan. In all cases wherein an alternative payment arrangement has been agreed, failure on the part of the customer to comply with the terms of the amortization plan and remain current as charges accrue in each subsequent billing period will result in the cancelation of the alternative payment arrangement and discontinuance of water service pursuant to this Policy. If you have any questions in regard to this notice, please contact the City of Avenal Utility Billing Department at 559-386-5766.
IF YOU ARE FACING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP, ASSISTANCE TO PAY UTILITY OR MORTGAGE BILLS IS AVAILABLE! PLEASE CALL CITY HALL FOR AN APPLICATION AND REFERRAL TO CITY PROVIDED UTILITY ASSISTANCE THROUGH SELF-HELP ENTERPRISES, OR CALL 559-802-1600 OR VISIT THIS LINK FOR AN APPLICATION
Original source can be found here.
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