Help Us Understand How Water Debt Is Affecting Chicagoans
By María Inés Zamudio, Katherine NagasawaHelp Us Understand How Water Debt Is Affecting Chicagoans
By María Inés Zamudio, Katherine NagasawaPara leer este artículo en español, hazle un click aquí.
Are you getting calls from debt collectors asking you to pay an overdue water bill? If so, I want to hear from you.
I’m María Inés Zamudio, a reporter for WBEZ’s Race, Class, and Communities team. I’ve been investigating how water debt is crushing low-income Chicagoans and disproportionately affecting Black residents. Over the last five years alone, Chicagoans owed $55.7 million in unpaid water bills. About 83% of that debt is concentrated in many of the city’s majority Black ZIP codes.
I want to understand how water debt affects homeowners and investigate whether the city’s debt collection program is working.
I hope to publish my story this fall, so please fill this out by Aug. 3.
Note:We know this is a topic that’s not often talked about publicly, and we want to assure you that your personal information will be kept confidential. We will not publish any information about you unless a reporter directly reaches out for your permission.