Flint City Council Blocks Use of Tax Liens for Unpaid Water Bills

Flint resident Keith Pemberton, with an American flag, speaks his three-minute limit during a special Flint City Council meeting in City Hall in Flint, Mich., Wednesday, May 17, 2017. About 22 percent of excavations tied to Flint's lead-tainted water crisis have led to copper pipes that do not pose a threat of leaching lead, city records show. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The Flint City Council has blocked a plan that would have put about 8,000 property owners at risk of losing homes due to unpaid water and sewer bills.

Plans for the tax liens on properties across Flint drew protests amid the city’s crisis with lead-tainted water. City Council on Wednesday night approved a one-year moratorium on the liens to give officials time to determine how to handle the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund had called for the moratorium, noting that the city didn’t provide drinkable water.

The Flint Journal reports Chief Interim Financial Officer David Sabuda said the liens amounted to $5.8 million, but about $400,000 has been paid off. He says: “We need every dollar to pay our bills.”

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