10,000 heating-bill aid checks delayed

By Charity Vogel - Buffalo News - August 15, 2001

It has been a sweltering August in the Buffalo Niagara region, but  some people in Erie County can't stop thinking about their heating bills.

That's because Erie County still has not mailed out as many as 10,000 checks for heating assistance that were promised to cash-strapped residents back in January and February.

And those residents, such as Michele Stoklosa, are frustrated and angry.

"This is ridiculous," said Stoklosa, a 30-year-old Lackawanna mother of three  who received a shut-off notice last month from National Fuel because Erie  County's Home Energy Assistance Program has not yet covered her $919.73  outstanding bill.

Stoklosa applied for HEAP aid in February. She said she won't do it again.

"People should not be treated like this," she said. "I will never, ever do this again. I'm dreading this winter."

The outstanding checks are just a small slice - about 10 percent - of the  total HEAP payments handled by Erie County for residents who applied for help last winter, said Kevin Duggan, director of energy services for the county. HEAP is a federally funded program administered by the county.

About 90,000 payments already have been mailed, Duggan said.

Last winter was a particularly bad one for Buffalo Niagara residents because of abnormally low temperatures, which began in October and lasted all winter, and sky-high natural gas prices that created a nightmare situation for Stoklosa and others like her.

One 44-year-old Cheektowaga resident said he applied for HEAP aid in January and still has not received his $150 check.

"I did everything I was told to do. This is 7¹/2 months now," said the man, who  asked that his name not be used. "I'm a low-income father. I've been raising two  kids for 11 years. I'm getting stonewalled here. What is the problem? Why is it taking so long?"

County officials said the checks are being mailed out as quickly as possible.

Duggan, the energy director, said it's difficult to handle so many cases,  especially now that summer is here and county employees are being asked to work overtime on HEAP paperwork even though they want to take vacation time.

"We're just hoping to get them out. We're putting on more overtime," Duggan  said. "It's tough to ask people who have just worked through the toughest year we've ever had to give up part of their summer to get this job done."

Overall, the county will mail out close to 100,000 checks for 2000-01 HEAP aid - checks that will total an estimated $28 million in federal funds, Duggan  said. In an average winter, 65,000 to 70,000 HEAP checks would be mailed out,  Duggan said.

"It has been, unfortunately, a banner year," he said.

But that does not mean that 100,000 county residents are receiving help with their heating bills. Under the guidelines for HEAP, residents can receive up to  five checks in a given year, depending on their income and other criteria.

Duggan said county residents who are still waiting for their checks or who have received threatening notices about their heat service can call the county's HEAP hotline at 858-7644.

In the meantime, residents should keep up with the part of their payments  that the county will not be covering, he said.

Duggan said the county has tentative plans to begin the 2001-02 HEAP season  on Oct. 1.

Outreach clinics will be held around the county again this winter to make  HEAP services accessible to residents who can't come downtown to the HEAP  offices in the Rath Building at 95 Franklin St.