FLINT, MI, April 26, 2016 -- Residents of Flint, Michigan, have been paying the highest water bills in the country for water tainted with lead, and this month, they will begin seeing discounts on those bills.
The discounts are based on how much customers have paid since April 2014, when the city switched its water source and let unsafe lead levels leak into the taps of residents.
In February, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) approved legislation creating a $30 million reimbursement plan for Flint water customers, at the time asying that residents should not have to pay for water that they cannot drink.
The rebate plan gives customers a lump-sum credit for 65% of what they’ve been billed for water usage since April 2014, plus 65% off future water bills until testing shows the water is safe to drink.
Residents can drink the water as long as they have a filter certified to remove lead, something Snyder has been encouraging people to do by drinking it himself for a month straight.
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