LIHWAP WATER ASSISTANCE: Customers call 614-246-0019

This program is designed to help income-eligible people in Franklin County with their water and wastewater bills. The program runs from October 25, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Eligible clients are those at or below 175% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), who have been disconnected (or have a disconnection notice), or either need to establish new service, or pay to transfer service. Clients with a current medical certificate on file with their utility are ineligible to receive LIHWAP assistance until the medical certificate protection expires.

Eligibility:

Households will indicate 30-day income received or 12-month income received. The system automatically calculates the 12-month income amount based on the 30-day amount entered. If the calculation does not reflect the 12-month income amount received, the client or intake worker can adjust the 12-month income amount.

The household will provide documentation for the prior 30 days of income for all income types except Self-Employment, Seasonal and Other Countable Income, for which 12 months of income documentation must be provided.

➢ Household Program Eligibility:

• At or below 175% FPG for the previous 30 days or 12 months

➢ Household Poverty Level for benefit amount determination:

• Lowest poverty level for either 30-day or 12-month period

A client must meet all of the following conditions:

• The client’s water/wastewater account must be either in disconnect status, have been terminated, or the client needs to establish new/transferring service.

• The client’s utility account must be coded residential, except in master-metered situations.

When assisting households with a master meter, each unit must apply as a separate household. Eligible households may be assisted with a portion of the bill according to the percentage for which each household is responsible. Supportive documentation should be scanned and uploaded into the system and detail the method used to determine usage. Each eligible household can receive assistance up to the maximum allowable benefit.

If one household resides on both sides of a duplex, has account disconnections (or threats of disconnections) for both, and is income eligible, the household shall receive only one benefit. There is only one benefit per household and, in this instance, the duplex is considered one household.

If the maximum benefit is not sufficient (including enrollment in a payment plan) to restore or continue service, documentation that the client has made a co-payment must be obtained prior to processing the LIHWAP application. Verification of the co-payment must be noted in the client file. A copy of the co-payment documentation should be uploaded with the application and if the intake worker receives verification verbally, this verification must be documented in the notes.  

All eligible household members, regardless of age, are required to have a Social Security Number. For clients that have applied for a Social Security Number, but have not yet received it, select “applying for” in the system. This should only be selected the first time the client applies for a benefit. In all subsequent program years, the Social Security Number must be obtained in order to process the application.

A client who has an eviction notice and a disconnection notice is still eligible for a water and wastewater benefit if they are residing in the home at time of eviction notice and have at least 30 days to vacate the premise.

The water/wastewater bill must be in the name of an adult household member.

If at the time of application:

The utility bill is in a child’s name (under 18 years old), the utility account must be put into an adult household member’s name in order to receive assistance.

The bill is in the landlord’s name and they will not allow it to be changed into the client’s name, and the client is responsible for the bill, the client can still be assisted. However, documentation in the form of a lease, or a note from the landlord stating the client is responsible for the bill is required along with a copy of the bill showing the account number.