City of Fort Smith offers options for paying water bills

Fort Smith’s PayIt program that allows customers to pay their utility bills online allows customers to divide bills into manageable payments. But beware, the city’s program is not a payment plan.

PayIt Fort Smith, available online as a means to city bills electronically, offers partial payments for water utility bills. Customers can go online, enter their account information and divide their bills into manageable payments, setting up a payment schedule for the bill, information from the city states.

Josh Buchfink, the city’s public relations manager, said this feature allows customers to spread their payment over several weeks instead of paying it in one lump sum.

“The full bill still needs to be paid by the due date, but they can divide it up into partial payments. This is not a payment plan,” Buchfink said.

There are no fees attached to payments or partial payments, but the city does charge a 10% late fee on each bill that is not paid in full by the due date, Buchfink said.

The city does offer two water utilities assistance programs for low-income residential households. Project Concern is a utility assistance program established by City ordinance to provide relief to customers who use water services solely for residential purposes. The program allows eligible participants to receive a 50% discount on water services, a 50% discount on sewer services and a 25% discount on solid waste services.

Applicants must provide a completed and signed application along with proof of income for all household members. The applicant’s water utility bill must be in their legal name. In order to qualify, gross household income must not exceed 165% of the current federal poverty guidelines. Participants are required to requalify annually or when moving to a new address.

For a household of one, the Project Concern income limit is $24,849; for households of two, the income limit is $33,726. The income limit for a household of four is $51,480, according to the income guidelines listed on the city’s website.

The city also has a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP), which is a program developed as part of an agreement with the EPA to help low-income homeowners pay for private sewer line repairs. This program was established to encourage property owners to repair defects that are sources of infiltration and inflow, which can occur when rainwater enters a private sewer line through pipe defects, then flows into the city’s sewer system. Excessive rainwater can overload the system and cause sewers to overflow into homes, businesses, neighborhoods, and waterways, the city’s website states.

Applications for the program are available on this page of the city’s website.