Water service is not a constitutional right, according to Judge Rhodes. This past Monday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes allowed the water shut off to continue in Detroit, and claimed that the issue of water is not within the jurisdiction of bankruptcy law.
The City of Detroit is in the greatest debt in U.S. history, with a debt of $18-20 billion. The Guardian reported back in July, “Anyone who owes $150, or is two months overdue, on their water bills, faces shut-offs … The city says that about 80,000 residential customers are now past due on their bills, owing a total of $45m – more than $535 on average.” Currently, there are $90 million worth of unpaid bills in Detroit.
In June, Detroit approved of an 8.7% increase to their water bill and made the average bill about $70 per month, compared to the national average of $40 per month.
Many of the residents are too poor to afford the relatively expensive water bill. The average per capita money income for a year in Detroit was under $15,000 between the years 2008-2012 according to the United States Census Bureau. According to the same record, almost 40 percent of Detroit is below the poverty level.
Between the months of March and August, about 22,000 individuals have had their water shut off by Detroit’s Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). Judge Rhodes ruled that the shutoffs must continue, otherwise the debt would increase. He argues that the unpaid bills to DWSD would harm revenue that is crucial to Detroit’s economy given its debt.
To help the low income residents, DWSD created a plan that offers a two-year repayment option with a down payment of 10 percent.
Back in July, residents illegally reactivated their water supply after water department employees shut them off. They received fines of over $20,000 for reactivating the water.
The United Nations deemed the refusal of water service to individuals unable to pay as a violation of human rights.
“When there is genuine inability to pay, human rights simply forbids disconnections,” said UN expert on the human right to water and sanitation Catarina de Albuquerque.
“It’s long past time for the United States to recognize the human right to water domestically and devise national, state, and local policy solutions that both guarantee sufficient financing for affordable public water infrastructure and service. Failure to do so will likely put at risk the health, prosperity, and wellbeing of many Americans throughout the US, not just in Detroit,” wrote Amanda Klasing in an article by the Human Rights Watch.
