CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council is giving eligible residents an opportunity to pay out the balance of their longstanding overdue utility bills.
During Monday's council meeting, legislation providing $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to set up a "Utilities Amnesty Program" was approved.
Those households who are eligible will have outstanding balances for utility costs that date back no later than March of 2020 on their Cleveland Water and/or Cleveland Public Power residential customer accounts, and are on an active payment arrangement as of the date the legislation becomes law.
"The money that you have put into the payment plan, we will match or we will zero out what you are behind," explained Ward 16 councilman Brian Kazy, who chairs the Utilities Committee, when he introduced the ordinance last week.
Kazy says the legislation will impact roughly 1,200 Cleveland Public Power accounts and 1,400 Cleveland Water accounts. "This is what ARPA was intended for: to help as many residents as we can," he added.
There is no income requirement to be in the program. As long as customers are on a payment plan with Cleveland Public Power and/or Cleveland Water, they will be eligible. Kazy says once the legislation is passed, eligible residents will receive a letter from council.
The program will end once the funds have been exhausted.
"We believe this designation of ARPA dollars is critically important because many people struggled with utility assistance through the COVID-19 pandemic," Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin stated.
You can watch the introduction of the "Utilities Amnesty Program" legislation below: