Atlanta nonprofit seeing families struggling with utility bills as city deals with unpaid water accounts
A report by the City Auditor's Office finds that nearly one in four Atlanta water and sewer accounts is delinquent.
The audit says more than 60,000 accounts owe the city more than $236 million in unpaid bills. That includes government agencies, restaurants and, in many cases, families struggling to pay their bills.
For some Atlanta families, a water bill is another monthly expense until they can't afford it.
The Midtown Assistance Center, a social services organization in Atlanta, says it's seeing some families with utility bills reaching hundreds of dollars.
"Coming out of August, we've seen bills that are greater than $500, and they're not huge homes. They're, you know, regular-size apartments or regular-size houses," said Jenny Jobson with Midtown Assistance Center.
The nonprofit works with families in 14 ZIP codes making difficult choices, providing emergency help with water, power, and gas bills.
The need comes as Atlanta faces a growing water debt.
"Many of the people that are low-wage workers that do live in homes, the homes maybe are not built recently," Jobson said. "And so they're not well insulated and don't have the benefit of products in their home that help them conserve energy."
The audit shows a growing problem.
Delinquent balances topped $198 million in 2023. By April of this year, they had climbed to $236 million. Of that amount, the audit found that residential accounts represented more than $146 million.
Jobson said for families already stretched thin, the first step should come before the bill becomes a crisis.
"I think the most important thing is to make sure that when you receive your utility bill, that you're communicating with your utility vendor. So if it's a Georgia Power bill or a natural gas bill or a water bill, make sure you reach out to the vendor, see if there are options for payment arrangements or different plans that they may have," she said.
If that's not enough, the Midtown Assistance Center and United Way of Greater Atlanta can help eligible families bridge the gap.
The audit also found that some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt was tied to large accounts, including apartment complexes and government buildings.
Officials flagged the U.S. Postal Service, a Chick-fil-A location, Georgia State University, and the Fulton County government among the customers with significant unpaid balances.
