Utility Bill Assistance Program

Everyone Needs a Little Help Sometimes

At Sammamish Plateau Water, we recognize that water and sewer are essential services. In 2018, the District established a Low-Income Discount Program where eligible water and sewer customers can apply for a discount on their base utility charges. Eligibility for this long-term assistance however, was based on household income for a previous 12-month period.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to rethink how we assist those who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic or other temporary situations. Our original assistance program has been restructured to include both short-term and long-term assistance options. This restructured program is called the Utility Bill Assistance Program (UBAP) and is available to all qualified single- and multi-family residential households.

Assistance Options

Long-term assistance covers a period of up to twelve (12) months that requires re-application on an annual basis. Eligibility is based on prior year income (retrospective), and the discount is applied to monthly bills in subsequent year(s) from July through June, upon application approval.
Short-term assistance covers a period of up to three (3) months that requires re-application for each three-month period. Eligibility is based on current period/year income, and a one-time credit is applied to the next generated monthly bill, upon application approval. Short-term assistance will not exceed two (2) assistance periods (six (6) months) within a calendar year. The effective date of the short-term assistance option is retroactive to March 23, 2020.

Forms of Assistance

This program is available to all qualified single- and multi-family residential households. For eligibility requirements, please refer to the Utility Billing Assistance Program Guidelines. This program is included in the District’s budget and has been funded by a previous rate adjustment of 0.25% for water rates and 0.25% sewer rates. Assistance will be provided in one of the following forms:

Discount: A utility bill discount given to directly billed customers on their bills generated during the applicable program period. (Applicable for long-term assistance only).
Credit: A credit applied to the account of a directly billed customer on their next utility bill. (Applicable for short-term assistance only).
Rebate: A rebate check distributed to customers that pay for utility services indirectly through rent or a third-party billing service. (Applicable for both long-term and short-term assistance).

Amount of Assistance

Eligible customers will receive one of the following forms of assistance. (Assistance does not apply to consumption charges; wastewater treatment charges; new account fees; disconnect or reconnect fees; or any other District charges/fees:

For long-term assistance: The utility bill discount or rebate by customer service type(s) (water/sewer) is as follows:
- Water customers receive a discount equal to 70% of the District’s single-family base water charges.
- Sewer customers receive a discount equal to 70% of the District’s single–family base sewer charges.
For short-term assistance: The utility bill credit or rebate for short-term assistance will be equal to 90 percent of the District’s single-family base rate for water and sewer charges and given on a three-month basis not to exceed two assistance periods (six months) within a calendar year.
Annual benefit maximum amount: An account may only receive utility billing assistance up to the long-term assistance amount for each annual period. In the event a customer maximizes its benefits under the short-term assistance during any calendar year, the customer would not be eligible to apply for long-term assistance until the applicable enrollment period for the subsequent calendar year.