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ST. LOUIS — City officials said Thursday they will soon resume turning off water service for some residents who don’t pay their bills, ending a five-year pandemic moratorium.

An aid program for delinquent customers will open next month, officials said, and shut-offs will restart Sept. 1.

The move, more than a year in the making, has been seen by officials as increasingly necessary as delinquency has risen over the years. A quarter of bills are currently going unpaid, and the total owed is nearly $13 million, or more than 14% of the water division’s projected budget this year. Meanwhile, the water department has been struggling to stay afloat amid rising costs for repairs to a century-old system.

“We have to start making sure that people are paying their water bills and that the water department has the income it needs to function,� Mayor Cara Spencer said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. “We just have to.�

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected. There are currently more than 13,000 delinquent residential accounts in the city. But any of those affected by the May 16 tornado will remain exempt from shut-offs, Spencer said.

In early 2020, as the pandemic was taking off, water departments across the country were pausing service shutoffs, and St. Louis did, too.

But as other cities, from to to , lifted their moratoriums in 2022 and 2023, St. Louis kept its policy in place, despite deepening financial woes for its water department.

By the summer of 2023, the department had gone more than a decade without a rate increase, forcing officials to delay replacement of key equipment and burn through reserves just to keep operating.

In June 2023, aldermen passed a 44% rate hike, the first in 12 years, injecting new money into the aging system.

And at a June 2024 hearing, then-Water Commissioner Curt Skouby told aldermen it was time to return to normal on shutoffs, too. The ranks of delinquent accounts with more than $500 owed or 90 days late had swelled to approximately 19,000 — about a fifth of all accounts.

And plans were in the works to soften the blow to those at risk of losing service.

The city collector was working on a new plan to spread make-up payments out over a longer period. And the $1 million in federal pandemic relief money had been set aside to help customers in arrears: The city would offer customers up to $500 to pay down their balance. Initial estimates indicated the program could help up to 1,800 households.

But the rollout stalled, and eventually got delayed until after the spring 2025 elections. And when the department presented its annual report to aldermen this past June, several raised concerns about the continuing moratorium.

“We can’t do it,� said Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, of Boulevard Heights. “That’s a huge amount of money to be missing.�

“We charge affordable rates, and yet a quarter of our customers don’t pay the bill,� said Alderman Matt Devoti, of the Hill. “If I’m a regular guy sitting at home, that angers, annoys and frustrates me beyond belief if I’m paying my bill.�

Officials said Thursday that applications for assistance paying delinquent bills would open Aug. 20, and urged customers behind on their water bills to reach out.

“We do have a lot of funds that are owed,� said Niraj Patel, the new public utilities director, “but we understand there are challenges out there.�

People getting help will be need to be city residents with household income no higher than 60% of average median income, or $61,920 for a family of four.

Those eligible will get a credit of up to $500 against their balance, and have to set up a payment plan for the rest.