At least 800 Charlotte households have had their water shut off since Oct. 4. The city’s temporary ban on shutting off water for unpaid bills ended on Oct. 4 — after roughly 19 months.
Assistant City Manager Brent Cagle told City Council members Monday night that the city is encouraging people to set up payment plans.
"There are a number of things that we are doing today in order to demonstrate our continued support for customers,” Cagle said. “One is a continuation of our aggressive outreach to help customers set themselves up onto payment plans. So any customer that’s on a payment plan will not be disconnected so long as they’re honoring that payment plan.”
Cagle says customers with questions about payment plans or other financial assistance should call 311. He says before the pandemic, Charlotte Water disconnected some 3,000 customers each month. Cagle estimates it will take the city roughly six months to get back to that level.
The city of Charlotte temporarily stopped water shut-offs because of the pandemic in March 2020.
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