By Alanna Kinnebrew

This is one in a series of blog posts that describe customer assistance programs (CAPs) for customers who are experiencing financial hardships. CAPs take different forms, but they provide help to customers who can’t afford their water/wastewater bills, a situation that has worsened with the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Toho Water Authority

Tohopekaliga Water Authority (Toho) was established in October 2003 by a special act of the Florida legislature, and is the largest provider of water, wastewater, and reclaimed water services in Osceola County, Fla. As of 2021, Toho currently serves approximately 111,900 water, 105,600 wastewater, and 20,100 reclaimed water customers in Kissimmee, Poinciana, and unincorporated areas of Osceola County.

Toho owns and operates 13 water plants and 8 water reclamation facilities. With a 300+ employee workforce, Toho treats and distributes approximately 40.3 million gallons of potable water and reclaims 25.8 million gallons of wastewater every day.

Toho Assistance Program (TAP)

Since 2017, Toho in partnership with the Osceola Council on Aging (OCA) has offered the Toho Assistance Program (TAP) to ease financial hardships for customers. TAP provides assistance by paying existing water bills for households with elderly or disabled individuals or families with children who might be facing a temporary financial crisis. They aim to make bills more manageable by prioritizing assistance for income-eligible customers whose services have been disconnected or are in the process of being disconnected.

TAP funds are provided by Toho and managed by the OCA, which is responsible for administering all the funds contributed to the program. Toho designates $50,000 annually to fund TAP, and as a result of the detrimental impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Toho’s board of supervisors voted to increase TAP funding to $150,000 in hopes of reaching even more water customers who have been affected by this economic downturn. Additionally, the TAP Donation Program was recently initiated and the Authority has committed to match donations it collects throughout the year.

As of FY2020, Toho completed the expansion of TAP to continue helping customers pay their bills through contributions from various sources. They’ve also launched an online Customer Tool Kit that included a Spanish language version.

The OCA describes TAP eligibility as:

• You have not received utility assistance from the Osceola Council on Aging within two years from now

• Your household is at or below 200% of the monthly Federal Poverty level (note: a snapshot of the 2021 guideline is below, but changes annually)

How to apply:

To ensure applications are processed in a timely manner, a limited number of applications are accepted per week, however, the website will notify potential applicants if the weekly maximum has been reached and when more applications will be accepted. To apply for the program, customers can call the OCA at 407-846-8532 or apply online.

Toho encourages customers who do not qualify for TAP but see themselves missing a payment and falling behind on bills to contact Customer Service at 407-944-5000 for assistance. Customers may be eligible for a payment extension request or a payment plan may be devised.

Does your utility have a customer assistance program that you’d like for us to spotlight? If so, comment below.

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