REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action to Authorize the City Manager to Take All Appropriate Actions Required for Participation in the California Arrearage Payment Program and the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Deliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and Infrastructure
BACKGROUND
Since March 4, 2020, California has been under a State of Emergency declaration as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, California took steps to limit economic impacts on residents including statewide moratoriums on electric, natural gas, and water utility disconnections to protect households that may have fallen behind on these utility bills. Due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic many utility customers have accrued significant utility bill debt and face potential service interruptions if delinquent account balances are not resolved. In response to the customer utility debt Californians are facing today, the State Budget Act of 2021 appropriated almost $2 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) to support the establishment of 2 different arrearage payment programs: 1) the California Arrearages Payment Program (CAPP) for electric and natural gas utilities administered by the State Community Services and Development (CSD) Department; and 2) the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (CWWAPP) for water and wastewater utilities administered by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
The two programs are administered by their respective agencies but share the same general process within each agency. Each agency will survey their respective utilities for the total amount of debt accrued for bills at least 60 days past due for usage during the COVID-19 pandemic bill relief period of March 4, 2020 through June 15, 2021. The state will use the survey results to calculate an allocate the available funds and notify each utili...
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