Councilmembers Push to Prevent Water Shutoffs for Responsible Tenants
Published on October 16, 2024
SAN ANTONIO, (October 16, 2024) – Today, District 7 Councilmember Marina Alderete Gavito addressed the Governance Committee regarding her collaborative Council Consideration Request (CCR) filed with District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez. Their policy proposal addresses the ongoing practice of San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) shutting off water to apartment complexes that are overdue on their SAWS payments.
“Councilmember McKee-Rodriguez and I are focused on ensuring that San Antonians are not caught in the crossfire of SAWS's efforts to collect overdue payments from negligent landlords who are responsible for those delinquencies,” Councilmember Alderete Gavito said.
“Our recommendation is straightforward – if you operate as a landlord in San Antonio and collect rent that includes utility payments, you must adhere to the rules and pay those bills. This is not a controversial idea.
“The majority of apartment complexes and property managers are trustworthy. However, our CCR targets the bad actors and those who may become problematic, leaving their tenants in difficult situations.
“It's time to ensure that those who collect rent with the promise to pay utility bills actually fulfill that obligation,” stated the District 7 Councilmember.
Councilmember McKee-Rodriguez added, “The threat of water shutoffs places the consequences of bad acting, negligent, and delinquent landlords and management companies on our most vulnerable residents.
“We are making clear that the means SAWS uses to collect payments from these bad actors do not justify the ends. Our action is a signal to residents that we won’t allow them to be used as a tool for debt collection.”
Councilmembers Alderete Gavito and McKee-Rodriguez propose penalizing the landlord when they fail to continuously pay these bills by augmenting the Proactive Apartment Inspection Program. Their goal is to hold the landlord accountable and not affect the availability of water for their tenants.
The Governance Committee voted to send the CCR to the Municipal Utilities Committee for further consideration at a future date.