The city is now accepting donations from residents to help their neighbors in need pay their utility bills, according to a news release Monday. Though there’s no set date for the city to restart utility shutoffs, customers who have a delinquent balance for more than 22 days could lose service once shutoffs do resume. Currently, that’s about 10% of the city’s residential customers, according to the release. “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a problem with outstanding utility payments as it left some of our community members unable to keep up with bills due to lost employment, an inability to work, or other circumstances,” according to the release. “To assist these households, the City halted utility shut-offs during the pandemic.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
