{"id":99402,"date":"2025-12-24T05:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/99402\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T05:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:01:07","slug":"corpus-christis-water-assistance-program-available-as-rates-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/99402\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi\u2019s water assistance program available as rates increase"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Families who show a financial need may qualify for help with their water bills. See if you\u2019re eligible.<\/p>\n<p>CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Starting Jan. 1, Corpus Christi residents will see new water and wastewater rates reflected on their utility bills. The change was approved by the City Council back in September.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiiitv.com\/article\/news\/local\/mental-health-experts-urge-compassion-connection-some-struggle-with-holiday-blues\/503-1611e74b-c6e0-43f5-af1c-d3b77ba93993\" class=\"cms__embed-related-story__link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mental health experts urge compassion, connection as some struggle with holiday blues<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Corpus Christi Water Interim COO Nick Winkelman says the increase will affect everyone, from the average homeowner to major industries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rates across all customer classes are increasing this year as approved by council during the budget process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Winkelman says customers experiencing financial hardship can access the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.corpuschristitx.gov\/department-directory\/corpus-christi-water\/pay-your-bill-new-service\/project-one-water-utility-assistance-program\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Project One Water Utility Assistance Program<\/a>, which helps eligible families. But there are specific guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHouseholds must meet the SNAP program requirements or the TANF program \u2014 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families \u2014 to be eligible for the criteria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Winkelman adds that the program is still in its early stages. As the need grows, he hopes funding sources will grow as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically the max is approximately $150, but that will change over time. Hopefully as the program grows and the available funds grow, that will change as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>At-large Councilman Roland Barrera acknowledges the strain higher rates can put on residents but emphasizes the increases are tied to long-term improvements to the city\u2019s water system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s cost associated that escalate. We&#8217;re subject to the same inflationary factors as everyone else does. And the thing that is important is that these are longterm assets for 30 years plus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Barrera adds that rate changes are not permanent and are part of a system designed to stay flexible over time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s an adjustment every year and sometimes depending on where the market shifts there may be a component where the rates go down or they remain stable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Families who show a financial need may qualify for help with their water bills. See if you\u2019re eligible.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-99402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}