Detroit hits residents on shut-offs as businesses slide Joel Kurth , The
Detroit News Detroit last year shut water service to 23,300 homes ' the
equivalent
of every household in the city of Pontiac ' but left the taps running at
thousands of businesses that owe millions of dollars, city documents show.
Businesses
and government-owned properties owe nearly twice as much as residences, $41
million compared with $26 million for homes, but only 680 were shut off in
2015, according to records obtained by The Detroit News through the Freedom of
Information Act. It's a discrepancy that outrages neighborhood activists,
who say residents have unfairly borne the brunt of a two-year shut-off campaign
on delinquent accounts. Some of the biggest debts are on government-owned
properties such as the Detroit Housing Commission, the Detroit Reentry Center
prison, Belle Isle and the city's golf courses, according to the records.
'They don't get threats. They don't get shut-off notices. They get to dispute
their bills,' said Maureen Taylor, state chairwoman of Michigan Welfare Rights
Organization . 'When we try to dispute a bill, we still get shut off. At its
peak last fall, the city averaged 2,000 residential shut-offs per week,
according
to block-level disconnection data obtained by The News. They're spread
throughout the city, particularly in dense, well-established neighborhoods in
the
northwest and northeast sides. On a one-mile stretch of Vancouver near
Livernois, service was shut to 13 homes last year ' including the brick home of
Renea Robinson. The single mother of four young children has lived without
water for six months, after the house she rented for seven years went into
foreclosure
because the landlord didn't pay taxes or the $5,000 water bill. Robinson works
two janitorial jobs to care for her children, two parents and an aunt '
and said she spends three hours a day and more than $100 per week buying
bottled water. On her bedroom door, she's written her four children's names and
her credo: 'Push harder. Four people depend on you!! They didn't ask to be
here. Stand up and step up. 'I worry all the time, but the only thing I can
do is keep moving forward,' said Robinson, 30. 'I'm not the type to give up.
Within a half mile of her house, a warehouse on Tireman owes $29,000 in
delinquent
water bills, city records show, while at least four other businesses nearby
have delinquencies of $4,000 or more. None has been disconnected. A vow to
change Gary Brown, who in October became director of the Detroit Water and
Sewerage Department , acknowledged the city has focused the shut-off campaign
almost entirely on residents. Last year, 1 in 9 of the city's 200,000
residential accounts were disconnected last year, compared to 1 in 37 of the
city's
25,000 non-residential accounts, the records show. Brown vows change. 'There's
no way we can focus on residential accounts when we have such large arrearages
in commercial. They're my first priority now,' he said. Since January, the city
has sued 17 delinquent businesses including several apartment complexes.
Two customer service agents are working exclusively on collecting from 10,000
delinquent non-residential accounts, Brown said. Those that don't pay will
be shut off, he said. The program of residential shut-offs was suspended in the
winter and will continue when weather warms. Since the campaign began in
2014, the city has conducted about 50,000 shut-offs. Brown predicted the number
of residential shut-offs will decline this year because the goal of the
effort was to put delinquent customers in payment plans. Some 44,000 residents
have done so , helping the city boost its collection rate from 85 percent
last year to 90 percent now, Brown said. Assistance programs also have
increased. 'I got in here and there was one tool being used: shut-offs,' Brown
said.
'Now, I'm trying to use more tools and change the business practices. We are
going to go after those with the biggest bills. Businesses dispute bills Many
commercial owners dispute the bills. City records claim the state owes more
than $1 million ' $648,000 for the Detroit Reentry Center prison and $473,000
for Belle Isle, which the state Department of Natural Resources has managed
since 2014. Both are more than 60 days overdue and eligible for shut-offs,
records show. 'We very much disagree on the amount they think we owe,' said
Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Department of Corrections that operates the
prison formerly known as the Ryan Correctional Facility. The delinquent bills
from Belle Isle date back to Detroit's management of the island park and
the state isn't responsible, said Ron Olson, chief of parks for the state DNR.
In fact, the city 'owes us a credit of $190,000 because we overpaid,' Olson
said. Detroit also claims Vargo Golf Co. owes $442,000 for four city-owned golf
courses it manages. Nearly $300,000 of that is for the Palmer Park course
at Woodward and Seven Mile. There's no water meter at that course, said Rob
Vargo, a manager for the company that received a one-year extension last week
from the Detroit City Council to continue managing the courses. The company is
in talks with the water department over the bill, Vargo said. 'We're obviously
disputing the bill,' he said. 'There's no way to estimate water usage at the
golf courses. We're a company that always asks questions when things don't
look right. It's a similar argument at the Port of Detroit's Marine Terminal on
West Jefferson, which the city claims owes $430,000. The bill is in the
name of a company that hasn't operated the terminal in more than 10 years, said
Mickey Blashfield, director of government relations for CenTra Inc., a
Warren-based company that oversees the terminal and whose affiliate holdings
include the Ambassador Bridge. Not all dispute the bills. The Detroit Board
of Education is on a payment plan for its $271,000 debt, which district
spokeswoman Michelle A. Zdrodowski said includes several closed schools now
owned
by the city. Russell Industrial Center property manager Eric Novack said the
complex of studios and shops is working to pay a bill the city claims is
$405,000,
of which $100,000 is 60 days overdue. 'We're doing the best we can,' he said.
Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said he
is working to reform the department's billing system. (Photo: David Guralnick /
The Detroit News) Billing system reform Many disagreements over bills stem
from drainage charges based on the size of properties. Like residential
accounts, many doubt the legitimacy of bills because of years of mismanagement
and poor record keeping at the water department, said DeMeeko Williams, chief
coordinator of the Detroit Water Brigade , a nonprofit that delivers water
to those without. Brown said he's working on reforms, including an overhaul to
a billing system. Drainage fees, though, 'aren't difficult' to comprehend,
he contended. 'It's not until they are in danger of being disconnected do they
raise objections,' Brown said. Back on Vancouver, Robinson said her house
has rapidly deteriorated since losing water. She bought the home out of tax
foreclosure for $1,600 last fall. That was supposed to erase the water debt,
but Robinson said she still got bills for months saying she owed thousands of
dollars. That's been cleared up ' but Robinson said the service hasn't been
restored because of frequent basement flooding. Now, the ceiling is crumbling.
Mold is growing in closets. Flooding destroyed her washing machine and furnace.
So she heats the home with the stove and space heaters and spends afternoons
searching for the best bargains on bottled water. 'I have to believe that
somehow, things are going to turn around,' Robinson said. Staff Writer
Christine MacDonald contributed. Estimates elusive about oc'cup'ied homes
without
water Detroit officials admit they don't know how many oc'cup'ied homes lack
running water. 'It's not something we track,' said Darryl Latimer, an executive
with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The city last year shut water
to 23,300 residential accounts and has put 44,000 customers on payment plans
since 2014. Latimer said it's impossible to know how many remain without water
without a door-to-door survey. That's largely because many of the shut-offs
involved vacant homes and because the city addressed bills to 'resident' rather
than individuals. That's expected to change this year. Using water records
obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, The Detroit News found that
11,800 residential accounts last year were disconnected and aren't now on
any repayment plan. The number was calculated by comparing customer service
numbers of shut-offs and repayment plans. Latimer said he doesn't believe that
many oc'cup'ied homes still lack water. He said The News' number is inflated
because it could include vacant homes, high-turnover rentals and delinquents
who settled their bill. Water activist Monica Lewis Patrick contended The News'
figure is too low. Her group, We the People, is working with several
universities
to study the impact of the shut-offs. It estimates 17,000 to 24,000 homes are
without water in Detroit. Joel Kurth Shutoff numbers Residential delinquencies:
$26 million Non-residential delinquencies: $41 million 2015 residential
shutoffs: 23,300 2015 non-residential shutoffs: 680 Source: City of Detroit
