Mich. governor plans $30M credit for Flint water customers

Associated Press

LANSING, Mich.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will propose $30 million in state funding to help pay the water bills of Flint residents facing an emergency over the city’s lead-contaminated water supply.

Snyder will brief Flint officials and pastors about the plan today and outline it to lawmakers next week as part of his 2016-2017 budget proposal, according to a statement the governor’s office gave to The Associated Press.

The aid would cover the estimated portion of residential customers’ utility bills for water that has been or will be used for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing hands. Customers still would be responsible for paying for water used to flush toilets, water lawns, wash clothes and other purposes.

“Flint residents will not have to pay for water they cannot drink,” the Republican governor said in a statement to the AP late Tuesday. “My budget recommendation will include the request that the state make payments to the city’s water system for residential bills going back to April 2014 and alleviate the need for residential water shutoffs.”

Snyder has apologized for regulatory mistakes that caused Flint’s water to become tainted with lead from old pipes after the city switched its supply source in 2014. His office estimates the $30 million – available because of a one-time $575 million budget surplus – would cover a two-year period from April 2014 until this spring, when officials hope the water supply is declared safe to consume again without filters.