Lots of people having a hard time pay bills during the pandemic

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ARCATA, Calif. (KIEM)- A lot of people throughout California have been struggling to pay their utility bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is that the case in Humboldt County?

The pandemic has made it very hard for many people to pay their bills because of their work hours getting cut, losing their jobs entirely or other hardships.

The finance director for the City of Arcata says that there has been a significant increase in non-payment and late payments.

“We have seen change in that category and that has increased overall. I would say we typically had about $7,000 in delinquencies in that category,” said Ondrea Starzhevskiy, the Finance Director for the City of Arcata. “Now we are close to about $65,000. So, that has definitely increased.”

Not only has it been hard for residents to pay their bills, but some businesses are struggling as well.

“So those commercial customers have decreased water usage or decreased sewer usage because they are not able to operate, right,” said Starzhevskiy.  “If we have restaurants that are shut down their not going to be using as much water. So, it’s a twofold decrease.”

Starzhevskiy says that the City of Arcata offers payment plans to help people pay for their bill.

The city has also not been charging a late fee since March of last year to help out customers struggling with payments.