To make up for years of letting some Guadalupe residents’ unpaid water bills slide, the city ramped up its monthly shutoff average from 10 customers to 90 this October.
“Starting tomorrow, we’re going to start shutting off water. The city has $250,000 in unpaid water bills,” City Administrator David Trujillo told the City Council at its Oct. 13 meeting. “That means that this has been going on for years.
“This is probably carry-over from COVID,” Trujillo continued. “My understanding is there was a lot of relief during COVID when it came to this kind of thing. But that’s four years ago. This is where we’re at. The city can’t continue to support everybody.”
After Councilmember Whitney Furness asked staff how much notice city water users get when their bills aren’t paid, Trujillo clarified that citizens whose water was set to be shut off on Oct. 14 received a 30-day warning in advance.
City Finance Director Eli Martinez added that residents who’ve reached the threshold for a water shutoff have unpaid bills past due at least 60 days.
“As David alluded to, there’s a lot due a lot longer than that. There’s some very large balances,” Martinez told the City Council. “There’s some close to $5,000. … A lot of big balances.”
“It’s not a good place to be,” Mayor Ariston Julian said at the meeting. “It’s good to be informed about it.”
Mayoral candidate and Councilmember Christina Hernandez asked staff what types of payment plan options the city already has in place, if any, to help water users struggling to pay their bills on time.
“Or will there be payment plans available for these residents?” Hernandez asked.
“We definitely will be offering a payment plan,” Finance Director Martinez replied. “We have tiers for people who have larger bills that can go up to a year, legally. And for people who meet the hardship requirements, outlined by law, we can potentially go longer than that.
“The other thing the council and the public should know, about those payment plans,” Martinez continued, “if they don’t meet them, [their water] will be shut off. … You’ve got to make the payments on time and then get yourself caught up within the time period.”
City Administrator Trujillo reminded the council that, as a standard practice, staff schedules water shutoff on weekdays with flexibility for impacted users to rectify unpaid bills with staff in a timely manner.
“We will not shut off water on Fridays,” Trujillo said.
This article appears in October 22 – October 29, 2026.
