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Written by Miami Today on October 22, 2025
While the flow of paychecks may end during the ongoing federal shutdown, the flow of Miami-Dade County water will not.
After the Water and Sewer Department on Monday restored service to an Army recruiting office that hadn’t paid its bill, county commissioners on Tuesday broadened legislation seeking to keep the water flowing for military personnel who can’t pay to add all federal workers who are tapped out in the shutdown.
Commissioner Kionne McGhee had added to the commission agenda a late item giving military personnel a pass on water payments during the shutdown that began Oct. 1. As commissioners prepared to vote, Oliver Gilbert III went further.
“It this shutdown persists, we might have to look at this for other federal employees because there are people who through no fault of their own, we don’t want their water turned off” because they can’t pay, Mr. Gilbert said.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava quickly agreed that all federal employees who are caught without a check can be sure to still have water service.
Every commissioner asked to co-sponsor the broadened measure.
Commissioner René García asked the county to look at what the cost of forbearance on water bills could be.
Raquel Regalado said finding out which water customers are eligible for help might be hard. “We only have as much information as people give us” about who they work for, including federal employees, she noted.
Mr. Gilbert said he expected the mayor’s team to be able to make that determination.