Boxes and furniture sit on wooden pallets in a warehouse.
Belongings of evicted people in New Haven are stored at a warehouse at New Haven Public Works Department, waiting to be picked up. Five to six evictions take place a week on average, said Tariq Dasent, an employee at the department. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org

A bill that would ban foreclosures for unpaid sewer fees and other charges of up to $4,000 got approval from the Connecticut General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee on Wednesday. 

Senate Bill 916 had support from Jeff Gentes, who manages foreclosure prevention work at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.

Gentes said in public testimony that starting a foreclosure for unpaid sewer bills adds at least $2,500 to a homeowner’s total debt and that there are other ways water authorities can collect the amount owed.

The Connecticut Council of Small towns submitted testimony in opposition. Executive Director Betsy Gara said that the authorities rely on the sewer use charges to operate and that she was concerned that limiting their ability to collect on unpaid bills could harm the agencies.

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Ginny MonkHousing and Children's Issues Reporter

gmonk@ctmirror.org

Ginny is CT Mirror's children's issues and housing reporter a Report for America corps member. She covers a range of topics including child welfare to affordable housing and zoning. Ginny grew up in Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas' Lemke School of Journalism in 2017. She began her career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette where she covered housing, homelessness, and juvenile justice on the investigations team. Along the way Ginny was awarded a 2019 Data Fellowship through the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California. She moved to Connecticut in 2021 and covered housing for Hearst Connecticut Media.