Cicero Has Only Spent a Fraction of the $100,000 Available to Help Residents Pay Their Water Bills
Pauline Vrettos, a Cicero resident, fell behind $4,000 on her water bill in 2020 due to a water leak in her basement. “I’m back to my normal bill after two years,” Vrettos said (Photo by Michael Izquierdo).
By Hayley Starshak
In 2020, Pauline Vrettos, a life-long Cicero resident, discovered a major water leak in her basement. She says that by the time she discovered the leak her water bill had accumulated to almost $4,000. She got on a payment plan with the town of Cicero and had been slowly lowering her balance when she learned of the town’s new water assistance program through a local email listserv.
In December of last year, the Town of Cicero started accepting applications for an assistance program to help residents who had fallen behind on their water bills. Qualifying applicants had until January 31, 2022 to apply for up to $500 of financial assistance.
Vrettos applied in December 2021 but did not qualify for assistance because her and her husband’s income were above the limit. In January of this year, her husband died due to COVID. She then qualified for the program and received $500 in aid after submitting his death certificate, new bank statements and income taxes.
“I’m back to my normal bill after two years,” Vrettos said. “That program worked out nicely for us but unfortunately, my husband died.”
Pauline Vrettos in her workplace office in Berwyn, IL on May 11th, 2022 (Photo by Michael Izquierdo).
As of May, the town of Cicero has issued $11,674 in water utility assistance under this program, according to records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. The town set aside $100,000 for the pandemic utility assistance program back in November 2021.
In total, 54 people have applied for the water assistance program. 29 of those applicants received financial assistance to pay their water bill and 9 have been denied. One person who received the maximum assistance of $500 had a water bill of $1,089. Of the completed applications that we received, the average need for a water bill was $880. Some applications, however, were missing pages.
Data obtained by Cicero Independiente shows there may be more people who qualify for the program but who have not applied. According to Cicero’s data on accounts behind on their water bills, as of March of this year, 7,035 commercial and residential accounts are behind on at least one payment this year meeting one of the application requirements. There are around 1,217 total commercial accounts and 13,271 total residential accounts in Cicero as of April 2022 according to the water department.
“They were efficient with processing my application,” Vrettos explained. “But maybe they could have tried a little better to get the word out. Like adding information to the water bill or shut off notices.”
The utility assistance program is being coordinated by the town’s Department of Housing with funding from the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Program. The CDBG program is meant to provide grant funding for housing and economic development projects.
Cicero decided to use some of that funding to provide emergency assistance to families falling behind on their water bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original deadline for the program was at the end of January. Cicero extended the application deadline until May 1, 2022 and has advertised the program on the town website and the information booklets mailed monthly to residents.
Requirements for assistance include being behind on a water bill, submitting an application documenting residency and ownership of the property, documenting the need for emergency assistance and demonstrating a moderate-to-low household income impacted by the pandemic. Applicants could receive as much as $500, which would be applied directly to their water bill.
Applications can be denied because the applicant’s income is over the limit, the household is not owner occupied, the household is over two units, the applicant is not behind on their water bill, the applicant didn’t prove their income was impacted by the pandemic, the applicant did not reply to requests for more information or the applicant’s bill is less than the $100 minimum.
The program is run on a first-come first-served basis until funds run out, according to the town’s public notice about the extended deadline.
The town has not responded to questions about what will happen to unused funds. Cicero residents can still apply for the program as of today.
According to resources created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, block grant funds can be used for eligible activities which can include: building code enforcement, demolitions, building rehabilitation programs and the provision of public services including crime prevention, childcare and health.
In addition to the town’s water bill assistance program. On February 17, the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County and the Office of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced plans to begin a program to assist Cook County residents with water bills.
The Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program aims to provide financial assistance to households that have struggled to pay their water bills. The program offers up to $1,500 in utility assistance and is available to Cook County residents.
In a meeting earlier this year, Finance Director David Gonzalez and Water Department Director Lido Manetti shared that the town of Cicero will soon have to pay higher rates for water purchased from the City of Chicago. Town President Larry Dominick explained that residents can expect to receive letters in the mail if the town decides to increase residents’ water bills. At the same meeting, Gonzalez explained that the water department will receive an additional $21 million in federal funding this year from ARPA funds.
Hayley Starshak is a graduate journalism student in the investigative program at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Follow her on twitter @HStarshak.
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