City of Austin

More low-income residential customers who may be struggling to make plumbing and leak repairs can count on the newly expanded GO Repair! Program, thanks to a new partnership between Austin Water and Neighborhood Housing and Community Development of the City of Austin. 

Neighborhood Housing and Community Development (NHCD) will receive a $350,000 funding infusion from Austin Water’s Customer Assistance and Water Conservation Programs. The funding will be managed and dispersed through the NHCD’s GO Repair! Program, which helps low-income customers by providing home repairs that improve accessibility and safety in kitchens, baths and other areas of the home. The added funding will help NHCD extend the GO Repair! Program to reach more residents each year.

NHCD’s GO Repair! Program provides up to $15,000 a year per home in repairs, including accessibility modifications, electrical, plumbing, mechanical repairs, exterior siding repair, window and door repairs/replacements, minimal drywall and flooring repair, and roof repairs. The program allows customers to bundle home repairs, reducing unnecessary interruptions to customers’ daily lives while increasing efficiency and lowering overall construction costs. 

“This collaboration is a natural partnership that merges Austin Water’s new leak repair financial assistance with NHCD’s already existing GO Repair! Program with its existing network of non-profit organizations that provide home repair expertise and assistance to low income customers,” said Greg Meszaros, Director of Austin Water. “It’s a great resource and streamlined process that ultimately benefits our customers, saving them time, money and improving their quality of life.”

“This is a terrific example of collaboration among City departments to provide Austinites with the resources to improve their lives, and to provide responsible innovation for health, safety, comfort and conservation at home,” said NHCD Director Rosie Truelove. “We are always attentive to opportunities such as these to have an impact.”

In its multi-year march to make water service more affordable, the utility has bucked national trends, rolling out rate reductions which are saving retail customers up to $26.7 million on their water bills. It also overhauled the eligibility requirements criteria to make it easier for customers to qualify for financial assistance. And with the newly introduced $350,000 in funding to help low-income families with plumbing repairs, the utility continues to improve one of the most robust affordability programs in the country. 

GO Repair! Program Eligibility

Eligible participants must be low-income homeowners who have been accepted into the GO Repair! Program. Home repairs must meet certain requirements and scope of work.

The NHCD GO Repair! program contracts with area non-profit organizations to make the repairs, including: Easter Seals Central Texas, Inc., Meals on Wheels and More, Interfaith Action of Central Texas, Austin Habitat for Humanity, Austin Area Urban League, American YouthWorks, and Rebuilding Together Austin.

For more information, or details about program eligibility, residential customers can visit the Program Guidelines and Income Limits at the NHCD website austintexas.gov/department/go-repair or email NHCDCS@austintexas.gov.