A May 2016 study by the Center for Financial Security in partnership with the National League of Cities offers a potential solution: using missed city utility payments as opportunities to funnel people toward financial empowerment programs.
.Known as LIFT-UP, the pilot program was tested in five cities Newark, New Jersey; St. Petersburg, Florida; Houston, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; and Savannah, Georgia to see if municipal debt collection processes could be an effective on-ramp to financial empowerment services like individualized repayment plans and financial counseling while, at the same time, cutting down on the costs cities incur trying to get people to pay their utility bills.