HRSD has received $8.7 million in funding through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act program to help customers faced with past due utility bills due to COVID-19-related financial hardships. Funds will be provided on a first come, first served basis using this application process which ends on January 29, 2021.
Funding is limited to past due balances from March 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020 - and this is for water and wastewater charges only. All HRSD late fees, interest, and penalty charges will be waived in recognition of your financial hardship, and those charges will be removed from your HRSD wastewater treatment balance during this March 1 through December 30 timeframe.
HRSD will make every effort to apply the maximum amount of credit for which you are eligible. You may still have past due charges on your future bills because of past due charges prior to March 1, 2020 or after December 30, 2020, or for services not eligible, like stormwater or trash fees, but this credit should significantly reduce the amount you owe and hopefully allow you to get back on track faster.
Interested customers may complete a brief questionnaire by phone or online by answering a few simple questions.
Customers seeking assistance will also need to provide basic account information to allow the funds to be credited to the correct account. This includes name, address with HRSD service and phone number.
Finally, customers will be asked if HRSD can share this information with local water utilities as many cities and counties received their own CARES Act funding for utility assistance and may be able to provide additional assistance.
HRSD CARES Act Relief Program FAQs
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The goal of this program is to assist municipal utility customers experiencing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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All HRSD customers that have experienced an economic hardship due to COVID and have fallen behind paying their HRSD bill. Customers that are at least 30 days behind as of October 31, 2020 are eligible for assistance.
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If you or a person in your household has experienced a loss of income due to the COVID‐19 pandemic due to:
- Being laid off
- Place of employment closed
- A reduction in number of hours of work
- Staying home to care for children due to school or day care closure
- Loss of spousal or child support
- Missed work due to contracting COVID or a required COVID-related quarantine
- Unable to find work due to COVID
- Unable to work in previous employment due to being in a vulnerable population group or at a place of employment that did not provide adequate COVID protection
- Other
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The assistance is limited to overdue water or wastewater charges between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020. There is no maximum amount per account but there is only $8.7 million available. This money will be disbursed on a first come – first served basis. Once the money is gone the program will end.
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The Federal government limited the use of this funding to water and wastewater charges only. Any other charges on your bill like trash collection or stormwater fees are not eligible for this assistance and will still be overdue and will continue to appear on future bills until paid in full.
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The HRSD Commission has authorized a waiver of the HRSD imposed interest, penalties and fees. They will be removed from the bill of anyone receiving this assistance. This waiver only applies to this assistance program and future late payments will still be subject to interest, penalties, and late charges.
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HRSD applied for funding through the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). The SCC received this Federal CARES Act funding from the Virginia General Assembly. No HRSD ratepayer funds were used to create this program.
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The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced the award of funding to HRSD on December 7, 2020. The Federal deadline to distribute these funds is January 29, 2021.
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You will not be contacted by HRSD after your application has been submitted. If you qualify to receive funds, you will see the credit applied to your HRSD bill in one to two months.
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HRSD has repayment plans up to 24 months available, please call 757.460.2491 to set one up.