Olneyites get help with water bills

Olney residents struggling to pay their water bills will soon get help through a grant program that the City Council voted to participate in at its Sept. 26 meeting. The city began collecting a $30 water surcharge to fund a new $13-million water treatment plant in August. That surcharge rises to $35 in November.

The program, administered by the nonprofit Rolling Plains Management Corporation, provides state funds to help people who are behind on their water bills catch up, City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon said. Rolling Plains, which serves the 28 counties in north central Texas that border the Red River, reached out to Olney officials about the program, she said.

The program will help with “anything that is water or sewer related,” she said. “That would include their water deposit and the water project surcharges,” she said. “If somebody is behind it will help take care of their water but not their trash.”

Mrs. Pagsuberon said the city will reach out to the public via its Facebook page as soon as she receives details on how to get the program started. She urged delinquent water customers to come talk to the city to work out a payment plan.

“If the bulk of [the bill] is taken care of [by the grant program], we can take what they have due and spread it out and give them time to catch up. So it’s not an all or nothing option,” she said. “We are always willing to work with people but they have to make the effort.”