Renters can Apply for Utility Rate Discounts

Kent residents who live in rentals, are 62 or older and qualify as disabled can start applying for a discount on their water and sewer utility bills.

The applications are part of a plan by city officials who are working to fix a change in utility billing software that for those residents.

Residents who are 62 or older or disabled can apply for the discount by filling out an application at the on South DePeyster Street.

The January utility bills also will notify Kent's utility customers of the discount with a statement on the bills.

The discount for seniors and disabled renters is not new. Such residents lost the discounts after voted in December 2007 to start billing landlords and property owners for water and sewer bills instead of sending the bills to tenants. Landlords could not qualify for discounts on behalf of their tenants, so senior and disabled residents living in rental properties started being billed at the standard rate after the policy change four years ago.

To fix the problem, the city will start attaching a unique code to utility bills to once again identify those residents, according to a memo from Kent Budget and Finance Director Dave Coffee to council.

Renters who want to apply for the discount program must fill out the application and provide appropriate documentation to prove eligibility.

Kent City Councilwoman Tracy Wallach said she estimates the number of residents who should be getting the discount but don't to be several hundred based on the fact Kent's housing stock is more than 60 percent rental units.

The city's billing software does recognize owner-occupied water and sewer customers who are eligible for the discount. About 600 senior and low-income disabled Kent residents who own their homes are getting a discount on their water and sewer bills.

The discount applications come as .