Community Outreach Center issued a critical notice to the Monsey community about overdue Veolia water bills. Read the full letter below:
Dear Monsey Residents,
Over the last three months, our organization Community Outreach Center has been flooded with over two dozen household water termination emergency situations.
Veolia, the water company servicing Rockland County has not terminated service due to non-payment since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, but those days have passed, and as of the last three months, the water company has begun to shut down service to households that are way behind in payments.
Given the significant number of outstanding accounts slated for termination, it is crucial that if you receive a water termination notice, you promptly contact Veolia. Request their assistance in setting up a payment plan, which involves incremental payments. By ensuring you make these payments on time, you can prevent your service from being terminated.
If you disregard the termination notice, Veolia will shut off your water. At this point, you will be required to pay the entire bill before the company considers restarting service.
We recognize that many families struggling to make ends meet feel compelled to disregard their overdue water bills in the hope that a new relief bill like the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) that was made available in response to COVID-19 will come to their rescue again. However, we are not aware of any such relief programs happening in the immediate future, while we do know how prevalent water shutoffs in the community have become in recent weeks.
We have dealt with households that have gone days and even weeks without water, which can be very challenging and frustrating, especially with young children or elderly residents.
We understand that people are struggling, but we want to create awareness that households that don’t try to pay might be terminated.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Hersh Horowitz
Executive Director