Title
FY 2027 Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) Funding Allocation Authorization and Related Service Delivery Partner Contract Amendments
Body
Agenda of: April 22, 2026
Item No.: 2026-115
Amount: $7,290,700
TO: The Honorable
Board of Directors
Great Lakes Water Authority
FROM: Suzanne R. Coffey P.E.
Chief Executive Officer
Great Lakes Water Authority
DATE: April 22, 2026
RE: FY 2027 Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) Funding Allocation Authorization and Related Service Delivery Partner Contract Amendments
MOTION
Upon recommendation of Nicolette N. Bateson, Chief Financial Officer\Treasurer, the Board of Directors (Board) of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), approves a contract amendment with each of the Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) service delivery partners totaling $7,290,700 as presented in the FY 2027 WRAP Funding Report, with the following allocation:
a. For Area 1 - City of Detroit, a regional allocation of $1,316,700 and a local allocation of $2,461,200 for a total of $3,777,900 to be administered by a service provider that will be announced at a later date;
b. For Area 2 - City of Flint, a regional allocation of $33,500 to be administered by Genesee County Community Action Resource Department;
c. For Area 3 - Wayne (Not Including Detroit) and Monroe Counties, a regional allocation of $1,189,100 to be administered by Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency;
d. For Area 4 - Oakland County, a regional allocation of $1,307,100 to be administered by United Way for Southeastern Michigan;
e. For Area 5 - Macomb, St. Clair, and Lapeer Counties, a regional allocation of $915,900 to be administered by Macomb Community Action;
f. For Area 6 - Washtenaw County, a regional allocation of $67,200 to be administered by United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
and authorizes the CEO to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
BACKGROUND
Upon the approval of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) FY 2027 & FY 2028 Biennial Budget and FY 2027 charges by the Board of Directors, GLWA staff prepares an allocation of Water Residential Assistance Program funding by service area. GLWA Service Delivery Partner contracts are in place; however, the dollar amount of that contract is updated each year with the new WRAP funding amount based upon the approved budget. This report serves as a request for authorization to allocate FY 2027 WRAP funding by service area and a request to amend the contracts for those amounts accordingly.
WRAP regional and local funds from Area 1 are used as a funding source for the Detroit Water and Sewer Department (DWSD) Lifeline H20 program. At the time of this report, DWSD has not identified a third-party administrator for FY 2027. GLWA will establish a contract with the service delivery partner once they have been identified.
JUSTIFICATION
The annual WRAP budget is calculated at one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the regional system operating revenue as authorized in GLWA’s founding documents. Funding WRAP is a condition precedent to the establishment of authority and continues as required as part of the approved annual budget adopted by the GLWA Board of Directors. In addition, DWSD provides funding to WRAP based on 1% of its operating revenue budget. This local funding is allocated only to Area 1 - City of Detroit.
The attached “FY 2027 Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) Funding Report” provides further background, analysis, and calculations to support the WRAP annual budget and allocation of funding among service delivery partners and areas for FY 2027. Attachment 1 included with this Board letter summarizes those allocations as requested in the proposed resolution.
BUDGET IMPACT
The GLWA Board of Directors approved the FY 2027 & FY 2028 biennial budget on February 25, 2026. The WRAP allocations were included as part of the approved budget.
COMMITTEE REVIEW
This matter was reviewed by the Audit Committee at its meeting on March 27, 2026. The Audit Committee unanimously recommends that the Great Lakes Water Authority Board of Directors approve the WRAP Service Delivery Partner Funding Authorization for FY 2027 and related contract amendments, and authorizes the CEO to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
SHARED SERVICES IMPACT
This item does not impact the shared services agreement between GLWA and DWSD.