Federal rent relief program could help Fort Smith residents behind on utility payments

A rent relief program launched Monday (May 17) in Arkansas could help some of the more than 1,000 Fort Smith residents enrolled in a utility payment plan with the city pay on or even pay off those plans.

Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) launched the new Arkansas Rent Relief Program May 17 to offer rent and utility help to eligible Arkansans. With the support of the governor and state legislature, DHS will give financial help to eligible renters who are unable to pay upcoming rent and utilities or who have overdue rent and utility bills, a news release from DHS states.

The program is open to Arkansas residents who are renters with a current residential lease or rental agreement and are unable to pay all or part of their rent because of a COVID-19 financial hardship, including qualifying for unemployment, having lost or reduced household income, or incurred significant costs due to the pandemic. Applicants must be legal U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens and must be able to show their household is at risk of being homeless or experiencing housing instability. They also must meet federal income criteria.

Applicants may not get help from the Arkansas Rent Relief Program for any rental or utility expense that has already been paid by another federally-funded rental assistance program. Applications for the program will be accepted through December. The program will make payments directly to landlords and utility providers on behalf of renters.

The program requires a landlord to submit a matching application for rent. The timing will depend on cooperation with the landlord. Matched landlord/tenants will be reviewed on a first come first serve basis following prioritization guidelines outlined by the U.S. Treasury. Utility only applications do not need a landlord or utilities to cooperate.

Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken said the program will help Fort Smith residents who are eligible to pay off part or all of the payment plan with our utility department. The city has more than 1,000 payment plans in place.

“The city has offered our residents the ability to pay off their delinquency using a payment plan. We offered payment plans beginning with the 2019 flood and continuing through COVID,” Geffken said. “During the majority of that period, the city did not charge a late fee and except for one month, we did not turn off water if an account was delinquent.”

The city as of Wednesday had 1,959 utility accounts that are more than 90 days past due with a balance of $846,662, Geffken said. The city has 1,050 accounts who are actively paying off what they owe, he added. The remaining balance for those who are actively paying off their accounts is $946,469. Of the payment plans, 131 have been paid in full and only 41 accounts are delinquent.

“The number of delinquent accounts hasn’t changed since we started offering payment plans. For those customers who agreed to a payment plan but have not made timely payments, we have been trying to work with them before turning them over to collections,” Geffken said.

The city began the process of notifying residents in September on social media, press releases and through billing inserts that they were going to restart assessing late fees in October bills. From December to February, the city sent letters to accounts that were over 60 days delinquent to notify them that it would restart water disconnections in March if the account remained delinquent. In March, the city sent out a press release, posted on social media and emailed and called customers directly, Geffken said. Information was sent in English and Spanish.

“We also hung door hangers in English or Spanish at customer’s addresses that were going to be disconnected in five days,” he said.

Administration chose to only disconnect utility service to those who owed $500 or more initially, Geffken said, noting that there may be accounts that owe less that have not been disconnected.

“We don’t begin the disconnection process by shutting off every account because some account holders pay their bill after disconnection and we want to have staff available to reconnect their service. Given the increase in the participation in payment plans, I think our residents have been using payment plans to avert disconnection,” Geffken said.

To sign-up for a payment plan, the account holder needs to visit the Customer Service department at 623 Garrison. They should bring their latest bill.

“It is vital that the past due accounts are paid. The City uses those funds to pay for the maintenance and upgrades to the reservoirs, water treatment facilities, sewer treatment facilities, and all water and sewer transmission lines and for the employees who work to keep the department running. The funds also pay for part of the consent decree requirements,” Geffken said.