HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Rejects Utility Subsidy for Disabled

The City Council this week rejected a proposal that would have exempted handicapped low-income residents from paying trash and utility bills.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell had called for the exemption to be extended to those residents to help them cut their regular expenses.

Now, only very-low-income households occupied by residents older than 62 are not required to pay city trash and utility bills. Very-low-income residents, under federal guidelines, are defined as households of two earning less than $20,900 per year.

Winchell’s proposal would also have exempted households in which at least one person is handicapped and that earn less than $30,400 annually.

Council members rejected the proposal, as recommended by Robert Franz, deputy city administrator for administrative services. Franz estimated that extending the exemption to handicapped low-income residents would cost about $30,000 in revenue each year. Considering that the city is facing a $5-million budget shortfall, he said, the city cannot afford that loss of income.