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Topic: The role of government in wasted water

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Empty Detroit homes accrue millions in water bills



Joel Kurth, The Detroit News 1:48 p.m. EDT September 15, 2014


Photo of Sherman Foster, who lives next door to 14537 Monica in Detroit on Sherman Foster had let his water bill go for four months. It was approaching $200. But the landscaper was shocked when city workers warned his service would be shut off in May. After all, water from the house next door, left, ran for more than two years before it was turned off in the burned out building on Monica near Fenkell. Its bill: $25,708. (Photo: David Coates The Detroit News)

The empty house on Monica amid the tall weeds and rusty chain fence is one of of 11,600 tax-foreclosed homes with sky-high bills that went up for sale Wednesday at Wayne County's annual auction. The water bills at the homes total $21.5 million.

An 876-square-foot house on Sussex has the biggest water bill three years after its owner died. Its bill was $72,579.


The bill for a west-side home between Schoolcraft and Kendall streets came to $32,043.


The debt on this Hartwell Street home was erased when it was sold at auction in 2011 but grew again. Its bill: $35,135.

The bill of $22,025 was attributed to the upper unit of this building in the LaSalle Garden neighborhood.


This building on the south side of the former state fair site sits between Havana and Charleston. Its bill was $30,741.



Sherman Foster makes no excuses. He'd let his water bill go for four months. It was approaching $200.

But the landscaper was shocked when city workers warned his service would be shut off in May. After all, water from the house next door ran for more than two years before it was turned off in the burned out, boarded building on Monica near Fenkell.

Its bill: $25,708.

"How in the world do you allow a bill to build like that? Then to go after me for less than $190?" asked Foster, 52, who paid his $188 bill and avoided a shutoff. "It's totally ludicrous the way Detroit runs its water system."

The empty house on Monica amid the tall weeds and rusty chain fence is one of of 11,600 tax-foreclosed homes with sky-high bills that went up for sale Wednesday at Wayne County's annual auction. The water bills at the homes total $21.5 million. That's an average of $1,600 apiece, while 112 of them have bills of $10,000 or more and 484 have bills of at least $5,000, county data show.

The records likely reflect a fraction of the truly big bills on abandoned homes. The Detroit News was only able to examine the records of homes eligible for the auction after three years of tax delinquencies. Officials at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department denied a Freedom of Information Act request for data on all residential delinquencies, citing privacy.

Water department officials admit they'll probably never collect the debts, which soon could become the problem of a regional authority announced Tuesday to oversee the department.

Foster, meanwhile, is among many questioning the water department's controversial campaign to shut service to delinquent customers. Relaunched this month amid international outcry, the effort has halted water to 19,500 residents this year after an unofficial policy of avoiding shutoffs allowed delinquencies to grow to $89 million.

DeMeeko Williams, a spokesman for one of the group's opposing the shut-offs, said there's no way water bills should be allowed to get so large on empty homes.

"Oh my God. It's horrible. That's all I have to say," said Williams of the Detroit Water Brigade. "The billing practices of the water department are just inept. It shouldn't take months and months to shut off water on abandoned properties."

The delinquencies are among several potential headaches facing an overhauled water department. In exchange for dropping objections to Detroit's bankruptcy, suburban officials agreed to create a regional agency — the Great Lakes Water Authority — that would oversee the department.

Under the agreement, Detroit would receive $50 million for 40 years for system improvements. The deal must be approved by Oct. 10.

Darryl Latimer, the water department's deputy director, said Detroit is already cracking down on uncollectible bills. Policy changes are in the works over the next few months to hold owners more accountable and track them down before debts climb so high, he said.

Latimer blamed the massive bills on abandonment and foreclosure. Residents leave or die. No one tells the water department. Pipes burst or they're broken by scrappers or squatters. Water runs for months before neighbors notice it has seeped outside and call the city, he said.

"If you're not aggressive with shutoffs, people will walk away from properties and they'll get vandalized," Latimer said.

Among thechanges: Sending bills to homeowners and tenants, rather than "occupants." Now, tenants can skip out on bills, leaving debts in abandoned homes. Attaching bills to individuals, rather than addresses, will allow debt collectors to track delinquents, Latimer said.

The switch is coming early next year. The department also is considering limiting the practice of attaching delinquencies to property tax bills that Latimer acknowledges is bringing in far less money than when implemented in 2006.

Tiny house has biggest bill

The biggest bill: $72,579 at a tiny ranch at 9250 Sussex on the northwest side.

The 876-square-foot house has one bathroom. The front door is unlocked and the exterior shows no sign of water leaks. County records show the vast majority of its bill, $68,000, was accrued last year.

That's three years after its owner died. Records identify her as Louise Burton, 64.

"It's just like she left it inside. All her clothes are still in the hangers in her bedroom," said next-door neighbor Emlie Hawkins. "All her people live down South. ... I have no idea how a bill could get that high."

The water bill was current when Burton died in 2009. A year later, it jumped to $150, then doubled in 2011. In 2012, the house rang up a $3,700 bill. Then, water ran around the clock for seven months before it was shut off in April 2013, said Latimer, who suspects a burst pipe.

Like other homes with spikes in usage, the house on Sussex got warning letters before crews turned off service. The letters went unanswered, Latimer said.

There's little chance the city can recoup the debt, he said. Bidders at the tax auction have to pay back taxes and water bills on properties. The small home — and others like it — likely will fall instead to an October auction when debts are waived and bidding starts at $500, Latimer said.

"If you're an (auction bidder) and you see a $68,000 bill, it's worth more than the home," Latimer said. "We are allowing these bills to linger too long."

"We're getting more aggressive in shutting off houses before they get to this point," he added.

The online-only auction that began Wednesday ends Sept. 17-24, depending on the property.

The size of such bills leads Williams and critics such as Ted Phillips to question the department. Williams and Phillips said they've assisted residents who are still receiving water bills after the service was cut off.

"There is a huge issue with legitimacy of these bills," said Phillips, executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition. "When you challenge them, the city says, 'Well, that's what the meter says.' Well, maybe the meter isn't working."

Latimer said the meters are "100 percent accurate." Starting in 2007, the city began replacing old ones that ran slow and typically only tracked 70 percent of actual water usage, he said.

"The complaints are coming because our meters are more accurate now," Latimer said.

Since the shutoff crackdown began this spring, about 75 percent of those whose water was turned off — about 15,000 customers — have had it restored after setting up payment plans.

Complaints about bills have continued. On Thursday, attorneys for the ACLU and the NAACP who are fighting the shut-offs issued a statement alleging the department also has been passing on six years of uncollected sewage bills — totaling $115 million — to customers. Water and sewerage department officials did not respond late Thursday to requests for comment about the allegation.

Bills grow after debts erased

In home tax foreclosure sales, debts are erased, but those bills can often begin accruing again.

Three miles north on Hartwell near Schaefer, a 1,200-square-foot home with a missing front door has a water bill of $35,135.

Records indicate the home was bought for $1,500 in 2011 at the county auction, wiping out a $7,800 tax debt. The bill has grown again to $46,200, which includes water charges.

"I believe it," said neighbor Lavince Pruitt. "Last winter, someone stole the pipes and water ran out into the street, 2 inches thick. We called (the city) for months and months to do something about it. You couldn't even walk across the street because the ice was so bad."

Back on Monica, Foster said he hopes the burned out home with the $25,708 bill doesn't sell this month so he can bid on it in the October auction, tear it down and build a garage.

Longtime occupants left the home after a small fire about three years ago, said neighbor Jennifer Jackson. City officials first tried to shut off water in April 2011 but were unable to access the lines, Latimer said. They eventually did so in January 2012.

The home was probably salvageable once, Jackson said. Not anymore.

"Why didn't the city come out and take care of the situation years ago?" she asked. "That was a beautiful house. To let it go to waste like that, it's a shame."

jkurth@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2513

Staff Writer Christine MacDonald contributed.
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:21 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Ever since 2000, when the city rebuilt Ballenger by Welch, the water runs in rivers down the streets at times in this area. Winter is especially hard and some streets were hit especially hard, When he was reporting for Flint Fox 66, Jim Kiertzner broadcast from the corner of Flushing and Ballenger as the water poured out for days. The restaurants in the area were shut down for this problem more than one as the city delayed fixing the problem.

Complaints about multiple water breaks have been kicked to the curb as the city administration did not want to pay overtime and determined the worst leaks would be fixed first. This was when we were paying Detroit for our water.

We were also paying for waste like this detailed in the story above. Detroit had horror stories in the media about water leaks filling up the basements of large commercial buildings and even abandoned schools and running down first floor hallways. That cost was passed on to all of Detroit's customers.

Flint could use some CDBG money to fix the infrastructure, but instead they continuing to buys houses and plan more housing.
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:35 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Detroit's Abandoned Buildings Flood With City Water From ...


www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/detroit-abandoned-buildings-water...

Dec 11, 2013 · ... — Torrents of water spew from broken pipes in Detroit's ... cost of the water, ... Water Detroit Abandoned Buildings Water Detroit Abandoned.




Detroit's Abandoned Buildings Flood With City Water From Broken Pipes



AP | By COREY WILLIAMS


Posted: 12/11/2013 1:00 pm EST Updated: 01/25/2014 4:01 pm EST


DETROIT (AP) — Torrents of water spew from broken pipes in Detroit's Crosman School, cascading down stairs before pooling on the warped tile of what was once a basketball court.

No one knows how long the water has flowed through the moldy bowels of the massive building a few miles north of downtown, but Crosman has been closed since 2007. It's not the only empty structure where city water steadily fills dark basements or runs into the gutter, wasting money and creating safety hazards.

As Detroit goes through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, the city's porous water system illustrates how some of its resources are still draining away even as it struggles to stabilize its finances and provide basic services.


More than 30,000 buildings stand vacant in neighborhoods hollowed out by Detroit's long population decline, vulnerable to metal scavengers who rip out pipes, leaving the water to flow. The city's water system has no way of tracking the leaks, and the water department doesn't have enough workers to check every structure.

"The water was running all last winter," said 32-year-old Delonda Kemp as she pointed to a vandalized two-story bungalow across from her home on Detroit's eastside. "You can actually hear it running." She says she reported the leak, but water officials say they have no record of it.

The city's five water treatment plants pump more than 600 million gallons of drinking water across Detroit's 139 square miles, billing residents for the volume used. But as more families have moved away in recent years, often without notifying the utility, crews fell behind on shutting off unpaid accounts.

"Even after an initial shut-off, residents or squatters often bypass the meter and steal water," said Bill Johnson, a water department spokesman. "In other cases, once a house is vacated, vandals and strippers may steal the piping and meter which causes the water to run undetected."

Sometimes, the water can run for years.

In the former Douglass Academy on Detroit's east side, six feet of water fills a basement boiler room. In an empty house on Chalmers Street, a pulse of water spews every few seconds from the end of a vandalized pipe. It's been going for more than a year.

City officials say they have no idea how much is being lost.

It costs about $400 to produce a million gallons of drinking water and $800 for every million gallons that go through treatment facilities.

"The water is wasted on the front end, and second is we end up having to treat that water" all over again, said William Wolfson, the department's chief operating and compliance officer.

In a city with an estimated $18 billion debt, the department has a debt of about $5.9 billion. The water department has lost more than 400 jobs in the last few years, and one study has proposed cutting half of the 1,700 positions left.

While city crews have been demolishing vacant houses in sparsely populated areas, they haven't been able to keep up with the supply. Detroit, which once had 1.8 million people, is now down to about 700,000.

Scrappers swarm into houses shortly after the last person moves out. Wiring, copper and metal plumbing are hauled away for illegal sale to unscrupulous recyclers. Even a decorative outdoor fountain in downtown's popular Hart Plaza was turned off earlier this year after its copper pipes were stolen.

"They'll steal anything that's worth stealing," said 65-year-old Shirley Young, who lives next door to a stripped house on the east side.

Beyond the cost of the water, the flooding causes safety problems.

In the winter of 2009, the body of a homeless man was found frozen in the flooded elevator shaft of a vacant warehouse. He had apparently fallen in after a drug overdose. During the winter, water-covered streets become sheets of ice. During the hot months, the flooded basements attract vermin and breed insects.

Modern technology can help track leaks but that's an expense that Detroit, with a network of 100-year-old cast iron pipes, can't afford.

"The infrastructure is old. It's extremely expensive to replace pipes and extremely disruptive," said David Arison, vice president of Global Business Relations for Miya, an Israel-based firm that designs efficient systems for urban areas.

Over the past six months, water department crews and contractors have whittled the backlog of reported leaks from about 350 to 33, said Samuel Smalley, assistant director of Detroit's Wastewater Operations Group. But that may not be as impressive as it sounds.

"Those are the ones that we know about," he said.
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:39 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

[PDF]
The True Costs to Communities - Smart growth


www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/true-costs.pdf

also monitors deteriorating single-family homes, ... Detroit spends $800,000 per ... the most common reason a property is abandoned is that the cost of maintenance ...
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:47 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Detroit City Council split on water authority plan


Darren A. Nichols and Steve Pardo, The Detroit News 10:49 p.m. EDT September 17, 2014


Detroit — Mayor Mike Duggan on Wednesday pitched the benefits of a proposed regional water authority to the Detroit City Council in an effort to encourage the panel to approve the plan.

Duggan, calling the Great Lakes Water Authority “the right thing for Detroiters,” spoke to council members and answered questions for more than two hours in preparation for the council’s Friday’s vote.

“I really think this is just an excellent plan,” Duggan said afterward. “It’s fair for everybody. I don’t think we could have had a fairer plan that balances the interest of the suburbs and wanting a voice on the regional system while giving Detroiters 100 percent control of the local system. It’s the right solution.”

Some council members praised the deal, but a few raised concerns. Council President Brenda Jones said she could not vote for it because the lease of Detroit’s water system creates a new “franchise” that requires a public vote.

“You worked hard on this and you did a good job,” Jones told Duggan. But, she said, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes “did not give me an order (to violate the charter). The judge gave me a vote. If I had an order, that is something totally different.”

Council president pro tem George Cushingberry and councilwoman Mary Sheffield also had worries about potential city charter violations.

City resident Shirley Burch urged the council to approve the deal, saying Duggan is the right leader to carry it out.

“Mayor Duggan has brought a proposal to you. I’m asking you to think of the people and what’s best for the city (so) we can come back,” Burch said.

Not all residents were pleased with the plan. City resident Valerie Burris urged Detroiters to “take your city back” and force Emergency Manager Keyvn Orr to approve the authority.

““Let the EM do it,” Burris said. “The charter, the council, congressmen, governor and state legislators are all subservient to the people. Detroit, you need to stand up and take your city back. Do not die on the vine while some people get rich off this proposal.”

The authority requires approval by members and at least one of the counties of Wayne, Oakland or Macomb to become a reality. If Detroit council members vote down the plan, they can be overridden by Orr. The deadline for county officials to vote is Oct. 10.

The authority aims to maintain Detroit’s ownership of the system while giving suburbs more of a stake in its operations. Plans call for the city to lease infrastructure to suburban communities in exchange for a 40-year, $50 million annual fee and an annual $4.5 million payment assistance fund.

The $50 million could only be used for Detroit water-related repairs, maintenance and improvements. The money would come from revenue generated by the existing water rates for Detroiters, as well as suburban users. Rate increases will be capped at 4 percent over the next 10 years, officials said.

County executives from the three counties have expressed support for the authority’s creation. If all three counties approve the proposal, the regional authority would be governed by a board made up of two members appointed by the city’s mayor and one each appointed from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

The sixth appointment would come from the governor and represent communities outside the three main counties. If a community decides to not join, their representative will be chosen by the governor’s office.

Council member James Tate said the authority, “without a shadow of a doubt,” is the best deal under the circumstances.

Councilman Andre Spivey said the authority deal represents the last chance to fix the water system.

Major decisions, such as rate increases, will require five of the six votes to be approved.



spardo@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2112






(Note- an earlier article said any community that failed to join the authority would be a "customer" with no voice) So all of those who are advocating returning to Detroit seriously need to realize there may be no savings.

Those with wells need to be concerned about the potential for frcking damage, especially since Snyder has approved pulic sites near our aquafers.
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:56 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

How Detroit's Water Crisis Is Part Of A Much Bigger Problem



The Huffington Post | By Kate Abbey-Lambertz
Posted: 08/19/2014 3:27 pm EDT Updated: 08/19/2014 5:59 pm EDT



In Detroit, thousands of people have had their water turned off in the last few months after not paying their bills. For the water department, it's a way to get delinquent customers to settle their tabs. For residents and activists, it's a serious issue when the city's poorest, including children, are made to live without running water in their home. A group of United Nations experts called it a violation of human rights.

In a new video report, Vice News delves into the Detroit water crisis, looking at how the shutoffs are connected to deeper, systemic problems in the city.

"What [the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is] going to say is that the people aren't paying their bills, they shouldn't have any water. And the story's a little bit more complicated than that," Dr. Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Detroit's Wayne State University, told Vice News. "You've got to situate water in the context of Detroit. It goes back again to the sort of underlying dynamics of huge water infrastructure, declining population, increased poverty ... it's not just water."


Detroit has lost more than a million residents since 1950, but the city limits and water infrastructure haven't similarly shrunk. That's part of why Detroiters pay some of the highest water rates in the country -- despite a poverty rate more than double the national average.

And the water department doesn't have the resources to keep up. When scrappers scavenge copper from Detroit's abandoned homes, sometimes water connections break, leaving water running and basements flooded, literally leaking money. When scrappers got to Lisa Stevenson's house, her pipes burst, she told Vice News, leaving water running for three months. The $19,000 water bill gets tacked on to her property taxes, making the home unaffordable. The proposed payment plan would have had her paying almost $40,000 over the course of a year.

Ater recent outcry over the water department's handling of customers who are behind on their bills, Mayor Mike Duggan instituted a moratorium on water shutoffs through late August. He also announced a plan to make bill payment easier and provide better financial assistance. Corporate sponsors pledged $200,000 to the new financial assistance fund.

Vice News spoke to Sonia Brown, who had her water shut off in the past and is letting her home be used as a water distribution hub for people in need in her community.

"Have we truly become a society to where we'll go and build wells and stuff in third world countries but we'll say to hell with our own right here up under our nose, our next door neighbors, the children that our children play with?" Brown said.
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:17 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

What [the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is] going to say is that the people aren't paying their bills, they shouldn't have any water. And the story's a little bit more complicated than that," Dr. Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Detroit's Wayne State University, told Vice News. "You've got to situate water in the context of Detroit. It goes back again to the sort of underlying dynamics of huge water infrastructure, declining population, increased poverty ... it's not just water."


Detroit has lost more than a million residents since 1950, but the city limits and water infrastructure haven't similarly shrunk. That's part of why Detroiters pay some of the highest water rates in the country -- despite a poverty rate more than double the national average.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flint planner and the Master Plan also refused to reduce the infrastructure despite continuing population losses . Also the new laws on metal sales has not stopped the looting in homes.

Detroit water customers have publicly stated they fear water rates as high as those in Flint. Do we really believe the prosecution of 50 water cases will solve our problems>
Post Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:24 am 
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