Staff recommends City Council adopt a Resolution authorizing participation in the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (CWWAPP) and authorizing the City Manager or designee to accept and expend these funds on behalf of the City of Roseville.  The State of California is funding this temporary program with Federal COVID-19 relief funds and requires Roseville to apply to the State Water Resources Control Board on behalf of our water and wastewater residential and commercial customers with past-due balances accrued between March 4, 2020, and June 15, 2021. The funding Roseville receives will be applied to customer accounts to reduce or eliminate their past-due balances.

Participation in this program is expected to have a positive impact on the Water and Wastewater Operations Funds within the Environmental Utilities Department by reducing the number of customer accounts with past due balances that result in disconnection of services due to non-payment or are turned over for collections.

On March 4, 2020, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Newsom enacted Stay-At-Home Orders for those not providing essential services to slow the spread of the virus.  Additionally, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-42-20 prohibiting discontinuation of water service due to non-payment indefinitely.  Due to the uncertainty for Roseville customers and the essential nature of utility services in the daily lives of residential and commercial customers, Roseville suspended disconnections for non-payment for all of our utilities.

In November 2020, the State Water Resources Control Board conducted a survey of the debt accruing due to the shut-off moratorium.  Based on the survey results, it was estimated that there was approximately $1 billion in unpaid water utility bills.  When the State of California announced they had a budget surplus of over $70 billion, the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) developed a proposal for the State Budget to include $1 billion in funding to address water, wastewater and electric utility arrearages.  Roseville staff worked cooperatively with CMUA and our other statewide trade associations to advocate for this funding.

As a result, the California State Legislature provided the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) with approximately $985 million, from federal COVID-19 relief funds, to implement the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (CWWAPP).  This new program is designed to help water and wastewater utility customers address past-due bills (arrearages) accumulated from March 4, 2020, through June 15, 2021, which is defined as the “COVID-19 billing relief period.”  Of the funding provided by the State Legislature, water utilities have been given first priority to receive funding.  If there is funding available after taking care of the statewide water utility arrearages, funding will be made available for wastewater customer past-due bills. 

The Water Board is administering the program for the state and has established a three-phase process for distributing the funding.  Phase One was a survey that water utilities needed to complete and submit stating the cumulative arrearages for their water customers.  The survey was due on September 10.  The statewide funding need from the survey will be used to determine if wastewater agencies will be able to apply to receive funding to help their customers. Phase Two is the application process where Roseville will be required to provide back-up documentation for Roseville’s funding request to the Water Board.  The Water Board will review and approve Roseville’s application.  In Phase Three, the Water Board will begin disbursing the funds around November 1, 2021. 

The State Water Board must expend all funds no later than January 31, 2022.  Roseville must apply the funds to customer past-due accounts within 60 days of receiving CWWAPP funds.  Once participating in the CWWAPP program, Roseville must offer customers the opportunity to enroll in a payment program for any remaining portion of their unpaid bill.  Additionally, Roseville staff anticipate that the Governor will sign Senate Bill 155 into law, which was passed in the final days of the legislative session, and will extend the moratorium on disconnection of service for non-payment to December 31, 2021. 

The City of Roseville has been actively engaged and supportive of this program since its introduction during the State budget process.  This is an opportunity for Roseville to support our customers that may be behind on their utility bills as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The funds received from the State of California will be used to reduce/eliminate past due balances on customer utility accounts, thereby reducing the potential of bad utility debt that the Roseville would need to pursue or write-off.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, or is otherwise not considered a project as defined by CEQA Statute §21065 and CEQA State Guidelines §15060(c)(3) and §15378. Authorization to participate in the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program meets the above criteria and is not subject to CEQA.  No additional environmental review is required.

Goal A - Remain fiscally responsible in a changing world

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Dominick Casey, City Manager