Title
Water Residential Assistance Program Changes
Body
Agenda of: June 22, 2022
Item No.: 2022-209
Amount: N/A
TO: The Honorable
Board of Directors
Great Lakes Water Authority
FROM: Suzanne R. Coffey P.E.
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Great Lakes Water Authority
DATE: June 8, 2022
RE: Water Residential Assistance Program Changes
MOTION
Upon recommendation of Nicolette Bateson, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, the Board of Directors (Board) of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), approves the following Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) changes effective July 1, 2022.
1) Authorize a WRAP "Sliding Scale Assistance Approach" that is based on relative average residential bill by community and household income to determine the level of payment assistance;
2) Authorize the elimination of the opt-in/opt-out and service level options for GLWA Member Communities, thereby allowing all eligible households in the GLWA service region to take advantage of the program;
3) Require regular reporting to the Audit Committee of WRAP performance and changes to the "Sliding Scale Assistance Schedule" to the Audit Committee on no less than a quarterly basis; and
4) authorizes the ICEO to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
BACKGROUND
GLWA has been rolling out improvements to the WRAP program over the past two years. Recently, on March 25, 2022, the Audit Committee received a report related to "Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) Update". The purpose of that report was to advise the Audit Committee of the efforts to identify improvements for a more effective WRAP. The Audit Committee indicated directional alignment with the proposal. Staff noted that there were several tasks to achieve a July 1, 2022 effective date.
JUSTIFICATION
Since the time that the above report was presented, staff has communicated with stakeholders and has engaged a firm to conduct a s...
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