The Vance County Water District has a forgiveness program in place in an effort to help residents with outstanding balances erase that debt and tap on to the water line.
Enterprise Fund and Special Projects Director Frankie Nobles said the water bill forgiveness program will erase 75 percent of the customer’s outstanding balance.
“We’re trying to help some customers that want water but they haven’t paid their $30 a month fees like they should have,” Nobles said.
These customers started the process to tap into the water line once it was available, and that’s when they began receiving that monthly $30 accessibility fee.
For whatever reason, there are customers who didn’t complete the process to tap into the water line, but they kept accumulating the monthly accessibility fee.
Now – several years later, in some cases – customers find themselves with outstanding balances.
Nobles said customers who are interested in completing the process to tap into the county water line can pay 25 percent of what they owe and they’ll be connected.
The offer will be in effect through March 2027.
The county also has slashed the normal $1,795 tap fee down to $125, which will remain in place until the current water expansion project in Kittrell is completed. Nobles said should be in mid-September 2026.
The Kittrell expansion is the fifth phase the county has undertaken to try to get more water throughout the county. Nobles said more than 23.6 miles of water line is involved. A final total won’t be available until the project is completed, he added, but the price tag is more than $10 million.
“We’re getting there,” he said. “It just takes a while to get it done because of the cost.”
Nobles said the county initially loses money, but added that as more customers come on line, the county can make that money back. “That’s what we’re trying to do, add customers to our system and that really helps cover all of our costs.”
He gets calls each week from residents who have problems with their wells and ask about county access to provide clean drinking water.
“We want to be able to help the citizens in the community that do want water and (who) are having issues with their well,” he said. “We want to help as much as we can.”
The county contracts with Envirolink to handle repairs, leaks, and meter installation. Contact Envirolink at 252.235.4900 or toll-free at 888.754.9878 to learn more. The email is customerservice@envirolinkinc.com
Nobles said he also is available to try to help answer residents’ questions. Contact him at 252.738.2005.
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