Cities in the Columbia Basin are moving to halt utility shut-offs due to nonpayment during the current coronavirus outbreak, as many employers across the state are forced to close or reduce operations. But no municipalities thus far have broached a harder topic: evictions.

Cities provide water services to their residents and some outlying areas in certain circumstances. Grant County Public Utility District provides electricity.

PUD Public Affairs Officer Chuck Allen said in an interview that the utility district would work to find alternatives for customers who couldn’t pay, including through payment plans, but would not be issuing a moratorium on electric utility shut-offs

In Moses Lake, policies have been modified, effective Tuesday, to ensure that water services will not be cut off to residents due to nonpayment, in order to ensure sanitation resources remain available in homes, the city said in a press release.

Ephrata’s city council will consider a resolution Tuesday night that would set a moratorium on utility shut-offs for a couple of months and eliminate late-payment fees incurred during that period, according to City Administrator Mike Warren.

In Quincy, water utilities will not be shut off due to nonpayment and late fees will not be incurred through the end of the month, according to City Administrator Pat Haley.

In Soap Lake, a utility shut-off and late fee moratorium has been discussed, though the city currently has to decide how to conduct a city council meeting in order to review any such measures, said Mayor Alex Kovach. Due to social distancing guidelines from health officials and public meeting laws that need to be followed, conducting a meeting has become difficult, Kovach said.

In Warden, utility shut-offs have not been discussed, City Administrator and Clerk-Treasurer Kristine Shuler said Tuesday, though it may in the near future.

In Othello, utility shut-offs will not be aggressively pursued, Mayor Shawn Logan said in an interview. However, an official moratorium will not be pursued, he added.

While many cities have moved aggressively to enact moratoria on utility shut-offs, there has been little conversation about evictions, which may be a more significant issue for those who find themselves suddenly out of work.

Grant County commissioners, who may have that authority over unincorporated residences, did not respond to requests for comment. Kevin McCrae, deputy prosecuting attorney and legal representation for the county commissioners, said he “could not confirm or deny” whether the commissioners had the authority to make that decision.

None of the above-listed cities had discussed the possibility of halting evictions during the coming weeks, and many were not clear that they had the authority.

“I don’t have any sort of control over landlords,” Shuler said.

However, some King County cities have quickly moved to do just that, placing a moratorium on evictions due to nonpayment for the coming weeks, during which time many workers may go without a paycheck.

Most recently, both Seattle and Burien have enacted such measures, hoping to keep people in their homes and reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus. The King County Sheriff’s Office followed suit Tuesday by announcing that it would not be serving or enforcing eviction notices in the coming weeks.

While Moses Lake officials have not discussed moving forward with an eviction moratorium, City Manager Allison Williams noted that the city was in conversations with the Grant County Housing Authority and the Homeless Task Force of Grant County. The task force does have some programs available to help tenants who are struggling to make rent stave off eviction.