Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
5 <br /> Customer Assistance for OWASA Bills <br /> November 17, 2020 <br /> Page 4 <br /> Figure 1: Historical Trends in Care to Share On-Bill Donations <br /> $15,000 8% <br /> 7% <br /> $12,000 <br /> 6% M <br /> w V <br /> c $9,000 5� 13J. <br /> G a <br /> 4% L <br /> .� $6,000 <br /> 3% D <br /> O +' <br /> V <br /> 2% V <br /> $3,000 p <br /> 1% <br /> $0 0% <br /> FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20 Last 12 Mos <br /> Annual Contributions -WPercent Participation <br /> We are encouraged and inspired by this increase in donations. Unfortunately, current Care to Share <br /> donations will only cover a small fraction of the need. <br /> Additional Assistance Available to Customers <br /> In addition to the Care to Share program, OWASA is grateful for utility bill support provided by <br /> community, local government, state, and federal funds. Given OWASA's legal limitations on the <br /> use of rate payer funds, this type of funding is critical to meeting community need while assuring <br /> that the reliability and resiliency of the community's water system is maintained. <br /> For the past five years, OWASA has actively sought opportunities to work with community <br /> partners to address the affordability of our services through our Affordability Outreach Program. <br /> It is the intention of this program to address long-term affordability issues through water <br /> conservation, water efficiency, and collaboration with community partners. This has taken the <br /> shape of co-sponsored programming, as well as support for complementary efforts. <br /> Most recently, we have and will provide support for applications for grant funding. We wrote a <br /> letter to NC state legislators supporting state funding for utility assistance (House Bill 1200). We <br /> have also written letters of support for Orange County's and the Town of Carrboro's applications <br /> for Community Development Block Grant—Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funding. <br />