Residents in need who live in Keene or are served by the Keene water system may soon be able to apply for assistance to pay their water bill.

Council members plan to discuss and vote on the proposed program during today’s council meeting.

County resident Keith Jilge discussed the idea with council members at a previous workshop.

“This was an in-house idea from city staff,” Jilge said. “I didn’t come up with the idea. All I did was the legwork since I’ve got the time and know people that can help with the project.”

Jilge lives outside of Keene but is on their water system. He recently signed on to do volunteer work for the city after his Grandview business closed.

“I moved to the role of Mr. Mom,” Jilge said. “But from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the kids were in school, there was a big hole in my life so I started volunteering at Keene.”

Jilge, who already helps out with charitable projects for his church and the Marti Foundation, credited Peggy Thompson, an assistant accountant with the city, for the idea.

“Peggy takes care of administering payment programs for people who are late on their water bills,” Jilge said. “She’s the one who asked why we don’t have a program like this, and approached me to look into what we would need to do to get one. But it was her idea. She has a passion for it. We call her the spark plug.”

The weakened economy coupled with Keene’s water rates has negatively impacted many families’ ability to pay their water bill, Jilge said.

The program proposed would help such families with their bill and do so at no cost to the city, Jilge said.

How much money will be available to assist residents in need depends entirely on donations. The city plans to solicit such donations on upcoming water bills as well as individual and corporate donations and grants.

Money collected will go into a Keene general account named the Keene Water Bill Assistance Program, and no additional staffing will be needed to administer the fund, Jilge said.

A third-party nonprofit organization, not the city, will process requests for assistance, Jilge said. The Salvation Army of Johnson County has agreed to assist in that matter at no cost to the city, he said.

Those requesting assistance would contact the city, which would direct them to the Salvation Army office.

The form used by the Salvation Army is one page, Jilge said, and the turnaround time to assess a resident’s eligibility for the program should take about a week.

Once need has been assessed and eligibility established, Salvation Army staff would make a formal request to the city for assistance on the resident’s behalf.

“The funds requested would be transferred from the general fund Keene Water Bill Assistance to the outstanding balance on the bill of the customer requesting assistance,” Jilge said. “No money would ever leave control of the city. All monetary transactions would be in-house.”

Using a third-party organization has two big benefits, Jilge said.

“It takes any hint of favoritism out of the process for those requesting help,” Jilge said. “It also gives the Salvation Army access to what they call other components of the person’s situation. They need help paying their water bill, but do they also need help with food, clothing, other assistance?“

The program would add no additional cost to the city other than adding a line item to water bills asking customers if they want to donate to the water bill assistance program and a small initial cost to set up the in-house accounting process, Jilge said.

“The introduction I presented [at the previous workshop] went well,” Jilge said. “Everyone seems to be on board so I’m pretty confident it should pass.

“I think it’s a win-win-win situation. It helps those out that need the help. It presents no substantial costs to the city. For those who donate, they get the blessing of helping those in their community out, and their donations are also tax deductible.”

Jilge said he’s confident people will donate and, while researching the proposal, discussed the plan with several businesses and other groups that expressed interest in helping. One idea that has gained favor, Jilge said, is to place penny jars in the classrooms at all Keene schools and have a pizza lunch each month for the class that collects the most money.

Jilge’s proposal references similar programs in place by the Fort Worth Water Department and TXU Energy.

“No, there’s no other county city or Johnson County programs out there that help people with water bill assistance that I know of,” Jilge said. “I’m not sure why that is, but I’ve done the research on it and we’re certainly happy to help other cities if they’re interested in setting up programs of their own.”

The council meets at 7 p.m. in Keene City Hall at 100 N. Mockingbird St.