Stop the Shutoffs

In February 2025, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved vital water affordability legislation, including discounts for low-income residents, a Customer Advocate office for billing disputes, and shutoff protections for children, seniors, and the disabled.

But county CEO Cochran-Johnson is ignoring the law, pushing a 10% rate hike while threatening residents with shutoffs over disputed bills. This must end.

Take action below. Demand that CEO Cochran-Johnson stop the shutoffs and implement the legislation as intended.

In DeKalb County, residents have complained for decades about inaccurate billing and a billing dispute process, which results in arbitrary outcomes and exorbitant payment plans for residents. As DeKalb County prepares to increase water and sewer rates exponentially in the next 10 years, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners recently passed new water affordability legislation, robust shut-off protections, and created a new office to handle water billing disputes. Below is a description of each piece of the new legislation that was passed.

Income Based Water Affordability Program

To increase access to water and sewage services for low-income residents of DeKalb County, the Board of Commissioners passed legislation that caps water bills at 3 percent of residents’ monthly income. This program will make water bills more affordable for low-income residents. To qualify for the program your income cannot exceed 50% of the average median income (AMI) or 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. To see if you qualify please click this link.

Customer Advocate Office

The New DeKalb Customer Advocates Office will:

• Provide assistance and ensure fair treatment for residents facing billing disputes, and coordinate with the Department of Watershed to perform on site investigations.
• Connect residents to complementary social services offered by the County and access to social services for water affordability.
• Operate independently from the Department of Watershed Management and the County Finance Department, to ensure unbiased outcomes.
• The Office will replace the county's current broken dispute system and unapproachable mediation process. The Office will have the authority to administer outcomes for residents at any stage in those processes. Until the Office adjudicates their dispute, residents will be granted shutoff protections and have any water debt suspended. Until resolution, a resident's only requirement will be payment of their undisputed water bill.
• The Office will be charged with investigating customer billing disputes and conducting appeals hearings after a determination has been made.
• The Office will ensure effective communication with customers, including timely and accurate notices, multilingual access, and information about payment reduction options.
• The Office will start operating in January 2026.

Shutoff Protections

• The County will prohibit water shutoffs for individuals or households that make less than 50% AMI or 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and have children aged 0-18 years old in the home. The customer must provide age verifiable documentation that there are children under 18 years old in residence at the address being billed. To find out if you would qualify for shutoff protections please click this link.
• The County will prohibit water shutoffs for individuals or households that make less than 50% AMI or 200% of the Federal Poverty guidelines and are over the age of 65. The customer must provide age verifiable documentation that there is someone 65 years old at the address being billed. To find out if you would qualify for shutoff protections please click this link.
• The County will prohibit water shutoffs for households that have individuals with disabilities that can be documented.
• The County should also prohibit water shutoffs for any customer who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability (SSD) and therefore has a fixed income. The customer must provide verifiable information that they receive SSI or SSD.
• The shutoff moratorium for the listed groups shall be implemented from July 2025 ( the start of the new rate structure) until December 2034.

Dispute Process

As part of the legislation that was passed, Dekalb County committed to not shutting off water service to any customer who is currently in the dispute process or who is placed in the forthcoming Water Customer Advocate Office process. If you would like to formally dispute your bill so that your water will not be shut off, please click this link.