Some North Texas cities say they will give federal workers more time to pay utility bills during the partial government shutdown.
“It’s fantastic we’ve got the support of the public for things like that but at the same time sad that we need it,” said Lisa Schaub.
Schaub and her husband have been furloughed from their jobs at the EPA since December 28. Schaub said their savings will last her family several months, but other federal workers are facing challenges.
Schaub, the vice president of her local union, has been publishing leads on the union’s Facebook page about where to find assistance for unpaid federal workers.
“We’ve been trying to keep tabs on different credit unions and other financial institutions that are offering low or no interest loans,” said Schaub. “We’ve been putting out information to get them in touch with food banks because some of them are at the point where they can’t put food on the table and take care of their other bills.”
The latest stopgap comes from local governments. The City of McKinney announced flexible payment plans for federal workers who can’t pay their water bills.
“It’s no fault of their own that Congress hasn’t been able to resolve this issue so we’re going to do what we can to help,” said McKinney City Manager Paul Grimes. “These are people that are hurting.”
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Customers need to contact the city with identification and proof of furloughed status to defer their water bill payments without a penalty.
Grimes said the water utility has a significant enough of a reserve to manage water operations even if some customers can’t pay.
“We’re deferring their payments until they can get paid,” Grimes explained. “They get their paychecks and they pay in full.”
Other cities including Frisco and Arlington have said they would also work on flexible payment plans with federal employees, impacted by the shutdown.
Mike Davis, an economist with SMU’s Cox School of Business, said creditors should be able to count on federal workers eventually getting back pay and catching up.
“Sooner or later, you hope the politics get resolved,” Davis said. “When people get their back pay, they’ll go pay their bills and do what they have been doing.”
“We can hope it will end fairly soon and we won’t have any long-term implications,” added Davis.
Davis also pointed out the country is in uncharted territory. The 30 day 2019 shutdown is the longest the country has seen. The second longest shutdown was 21 days during the Clinton administration.
“Cities have bills to pay too and cities sometimes live paycheck to paycheck,” Davis said. “If it goes longer and longer, there’s going to be more of this ripple effect.”
