A Helena woman on Social Security Disability stepped up to the public hearing microphone at the September 29 commission meeting and asked commissioners to remember who gets left behind when utility bills go up. Delsa Pedalu told the Helena City Commission that rate increases on water and wastewater service — even modest-sounding ones — hit fixed-income residents in ways that people with regular paychecks may not feel.
Pedalu did not oppose infrastructure investment outright. She acknowledged that the city has real needs and that pipes and treatment systems require money to maintain. Her ask was more specific: that commissioners keep lower-income and fixed-income households in mind as they structure how and how fast rates increase. For someone living on a disability check, a bill that goes up by ten or fifteen dollars a month is not a minor inconvenience — it is a line item that has to come from somewhere else in a budget that doesn't have much slack.
The public hearing was part of the commission's process for setting new water and wastewater rates. Pedalu's testimony was among the public comments taken before commissioners moved toward a decision. Whether the final rate structure includes any provisions for lower-income ratepayers — such as tiered pricing or an assistance program — was not resolved at the September 29 meeting.