Some Oʻahu residents have the chance to get a lower rate on their sewer bills through the new Customer Assistance for Residential Environmental Services program.
The City and County of Honolulu's Department of Environmental Services launched the CARES initiative in hopes of providing financial relief to working-class families.
Eligible participants need to reside on Oʻahu, pay a sewage bill, and be at or below 80% of the 2025 average median income. For an average family of four, that is about $120,000.
Accepted applicants will get $240 in credits toward their sewage bill for the year, which will be applied to cover the full amount of the first bill, and it will continue to cover the following months until the $240 runs out.
Roger Babcock, the director of the ENV, said this was a simpler process compared to applying a set amount to each month’s bill.
“If your sewer bill was $80, it’ll be zeroed out that first month, and then it's going to subtract $80 from the $240 lump sum. And then it would peter out each month until it's gone — however many months that takes,” Babcock said. “We think that every little bit helps. The sewer bills are kind of substantial, and we recognize that and want to directly address this affordability issue.”
The program has a $10 million budget and organizers believe it could reach over 40,000 households on Oʻahu. The funding will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
Applications can be found here and must be printed out before being mailed in or dropped off at designated locations before Oct. 31.
