The Roseville City Council enacted changes to the eligibility requirements for the City’s Utility Discount Program at its March 10 meeting. The changes are designed to help measure financial hardship to participate in the reduced-rate utility program.
Under the previous city ordinance, homeowners qualified to participate in the discount program if they were drawing a pension and/or social security benefits, without regard to income. The new ordinance, which goes into effect on January 1, 2015, requires individuals to meet several income eligibility requirements to qualify for discounted water and sewer services. Those requirements are:
1) Owner and occupant of a single-family home
2) Enrolled in one or more of the Ramsey County-administered financial assistance programs:
a. SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program)
b. MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program)
c. General Assistance (GA)
3) At or below 165% of the federal poverty threshold guidelines
Homeowners will annually need to provide written proof that they meet all three requirements to participate in the Utility Discount Program. Current participants will not be ‘grandfathered” into the program. They will be required to prove that they meet the new requirements to continue receiving the utility-discount benefit.
In December of 2013, the Council passed a resolution putting a moratorium on registering new program participants while the program was redesigned. The original “Senior Discount” ordinance was passed on April 27, 1970 and first established the reduced water and sewer rate.