Karen Weaver Conference of Mayors Press Conference 006

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, accompanied by members of the Conference of Mayors, speaks on the ongoing Flint water crisis on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at the Flint City Council building. Weaver announced plans as well as introduced a letter the United States Conference of Mayors will be sending to President Obama, members of the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives. Conor Ralph | MLive.com

(Conor Ralph | MLive.com)

FLINT, MI - City records show the water bill at Mayor Karen Weaver's home hasn't been paid for months, despite repeated calls from her for Flint residents to pay their bills or risk the loss of financial help from the state.

The bill, which is in her husband Wrex Weaver's name, hasn't been paid since July, city records show.

City records also show Weaver and her husband routinely have failed to pay off their bill since the beginning of 2013, including racking up multiple non-payment penalties and carrying balances over $1,000.

Weaver, when contacted by MLive-The Flint Journal Wednesday, Oct. 12, said through her spokeswoman that she was unaware of the unpaid bill, and that her husband handled the account.

City of Flint documents show that the couple currently owes $527.43 for the bill at their Woodlawn Park Drive address. The account, which received a $1,390.32 water bill credit on April 14, has not reported a payment since July 11.

It was the only payment the Weavers made on the account this year.

Weaver has made public pleas asking water customers to at least pay the sewer portion of their bills during the Flint water crisis. The sewer portion averages about $50 per month.

Flint City Spokeswoman, Kristin Moore said, Karen Weaver is checking into the bill. She added she is unsure if the information, which came from the city's website, is accurate.

"At this point, she's not certain that the information you provided is accurate but she is looking into it," Moore said of the mayor. "The Mayor stated that the utility account is in her husband's name and he typically handles paying the bill. She said if they in fact have a past due balance, they will pay what is owed. And if they don't, they expect their account to be handled just like any other past due account. Mayor Weaver isn't expecting any special treatment in this matter."

In September, Flint's Chief Financial Officer, David Sabuda announced that the city would start issuing shut off notices to water customers to meet demands from the state for Flint to have a 70 percent water bill collection rate to ensure customers will continue to receive money from a water relief fund signed by Gov. Rick Snyder earlier this year.

Snyder's office declined to comment.

Eight of the nine city council members are either current on their bills and/or have credits from the water relief fund.

Councilman Wantwaz Davis, who has been vocal about not paying for water, had the only outstanding balance of $571.64. Davis said Weaver's neglected water bill is hypocritical.

"This is a sheet or cloth of hypocrisy," said Davis. "She has made it apparent that her office is nothing but a cover ... She's trying to make people accountable (for) their water service, but on the other end the same accountability is not being enforced on her. On the back end she shares the same sentiment as residents of Flint who do not want to pay for water they can't drink and use, but all she had to do was keep the governor's feet to the fire. It would have been better for her to be more adamant about the governor paying for our water bills until this issue is resolved."

State and federal health officials have continued to advise residents not to drink the city's water unless it has been filtered.

Council members have been vocal about Flint's water crisis and residents paying for water they say customers can't use. They have expressed concern about water rates in Flint, which are the highest in country.

Councilman Eric Mays says the mayor has fallen prey to high water rates in the city much like other residents.

"You might want me to answer that I'm outraged or appalled," said Mays. "But I look at the mayor like any other resident who is faced with high water rates."

Mays has asked for special meetings in hope of addressing the city's high water rates.

"I fought high water rates even before it was a health issue," he said. "I believe the mayor is aware of her water bills. I believe the mayor is aware of all city policies. But as I said before, it's wrong to charge high prices for something we can't comfortably use."

Snyder signed the water relief bill for Flint in February giving the city $30 million to help ease water bill woes during the water crisis. The bill pays 65 percent of the water portion of bills for residents and 20 percent for commercial customers.

In a September interview, Snyder's spokesman Ari Adler said the 70 percent collection rate was always part of the deal.

"This isn't new, it has been required since the legislation providing funding for Flint's water credits was first passed by the Legislature," said Adler. "It is imperative for the city's water and sewer operating fund to be balanced."

Adler said the city must collect on the delinquent accounts to properly manage the city's water department. The city stopped issuing shutoff notices earlier this year.

The state treasurer modified the collection deadline from Sept. 1 to Nov. 1 to allow the city 60 additional days to try to improve collection rates, according to Snyder spokeswoman Anna Heaton.

Sabuda said current credits won't be impacted but future credits may if the city does not meet the 70 percent rate demand. The city stopped issuing shutoff notices earlier this year. In April, officials did say that there was an estimated $13 million owed to Flint from water customers.

Commercial customers could start seeing shutoff notices as early as November, according to Sabuda.