BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The City of Battle Creek helped its residents with $800,000 dollars earlier this month to cover outstanding utility bill balances.
According to the city, the money came from its ARPA Utility Payoff Program. Those funds officials say, were allocated as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. This in turn, helped the City of Battle Creek, along with other municipalities across the country recover from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city spent the allocation in various ways based on community input with one of the approved projects being the ARPA Utility Payoff Program.
Payments were applied to past due amounts on utility bills from the period between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021.
In total, the city made a payment toward just over 3,200 utility bill balances.
City officials go onto say that residents should see the payment applied to their upcoming bill as a payment/credit to their account on March 4th. And as an added bonus, they do not need to take any action to participate in the program, and they do not have to pay it back to the city.
