The residents of embattled Flint, Michigan, had to resume paying their full water bills today, causing outrage among many of them. 
 
 The state has formally ended a program that subsidized the water bills of some Flint residents, after a public health crisis that rendered the city's water undrinkable nearly three years ago due to lead contamination. 
 
 Anna Heaton, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, told ABC News today that tests conducted on Flint's tap water in the past three months found that it meets all federal standards, although state officials recommend the use of filters as a precaution. The state is providing the filters. 
 
 Evangelist Lisia Williams/Facebook 
 
 Heaton also noted that residents received about $41 million in state credits to help them pay their water bills from April of 2014 until Tuesday, when the plan expired. 
 
 Flint authorized a new pipeline in 2013 that was intended to reduce costs by switching the city’s water supply, but the execution was flawed, leading to fecal and, eventually, lead contamination of the city’s water. 
 
 A CDC study published in July found that after the water switch was made, children younger than 6 were 46 percent more likely to have elevated lead levels in their blood than before. 
 
 Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP 
 
 The recent tests, which Heaton emphasized were overseen by Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech University professor who helped uncover the problem, have done little to reassure many worried residents, some of whom had hoped to address the issue this morning outside Mayor Karen Weaver's office. 
 
 "The trust is simply not there in this community anymore," Lisia Williams, a community activist who attempted but failed to speak to the mayor this morning, told ABC News. "Do we trust our water? No. Do we trust our governor? No. Our elected officials? No." 
 
 Today was supposed to be open-door day at Mayor Weaver's office, but officials scrapped the idea, Williams said. 
 
 Mayoral spokeswoman Kristin Moore did not comment on the cancellation of the mayor’s open-door plan, but cited recent news conferences at which the mayor expressed "disappointment" over the Republican governor's decision to make Flint residents pay their full water bills. 
 
 “I really wanted the governor to know what a help the credits have been,” Weaver said at a news conference last month. “They’ve helped Flint residents financially and also given them some relief emotionally because many people don’t feel they should have to pay for the water at all until it’s deemed safe to drink without a filter. 
 
 “I wanted him to know that I was disappointed to hear of his decision to end the water credits and to also stop helping with the city’s monthly payment to the Great Lakes Water Authority.” 
 
 Edwards, the scientist who helped conduct the tests that found the water safe for consumption, told ABC News by email today that Flint now has better water than "most smaller cities." 
 
 "All of the available data indicates that Flint drinking water quality has improved to the point that it is in the range of other cities with old pipe," Edwards wrote. 
 
 "In fact, Flint now has better water than most other similar cities. Obviously, there is still a horrible infrastructure crisis to deal with, but the public health crisis is largely behind us." 
 
 Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who also played a large role in bringing the water crisis to national attention, disagreed with Gov. Snyder's decision to end the water credits, adding that she thinks the water is still "unsafe to drink.” 
 
 "For years, Flint residents paid the highest water rates in the country for water that was and continues to be unsafe to drink,” she said in an email to ABC News. “The people of Flint should not pay for water today nor for years to come.” 
 
 Williams and other community activists side with Hanna-Attisha and say that they are unconvinced by Edwards' findings, and also suggest that Flint residents can’t afford to pay the rising bills that will be headed their way. 
 
 Water bills in Flint are some of the highest in the country, ABC Flint affiliate WJRT-TV recently reported. 
 
 Also, over 40 percent of the city lives below the poverty line, according to the most recent U.S. Census findings. 
 
 But while defending the governor’s decision, his spokeswoman Heaton told ABC News, "There's a lack of trust in Flint that's going to take time to repair.” 
 
 She also cited a January news release from Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality noting that while filters are still recommended for Flint residents, they are provided for free by the government. 
 
 Such assurances aren’t enough for residents like Arthur Woodson, an Army veteran who served in the first Iraq War and who recently participated in the Standing Rock protests over a North Dakota oil pipeline. 
 
 "Everyone is very upset," Woodson said of the return to normal billing. "The water isn’t safe yet, and [people suspect] that they're manipulating people into believing that it is." 
 
 Woodson is among the residents in the city of about 100,000 people pushing to recall Mayor Weaver, who is facing the fourth such attempt because of the water crisis. 
 
 “Everyone wants the mayor gone," Woodson said. "Because she just didn’t fight hard enough for us.” 
 
 The mayor has chosen not to comment on the attempts to recall her. ||||| Michigan Ends Water Subsidies To Flint Despite Mayor's Opposition 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Carlos Osorio/AP Carlos Osorio/AP 
 
 Starting today, the people of Flint, Mich., will have to bear the full cost of the water flowing through their pipes. 
 
 It's a frustrating prospect for Flint residents, who have been struggling with a crisis over lead-laced water that started nearly three years ago. 
 
 "We have seniors that are already making decisions between buying medication or paying their water bill," as one Flint resident told Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody. 
 
 For about a year, Carmody says, the state paid about two-thirds of residents' water bills, spending more than $40 million "to pay for water that didn't meet federal quality standards dating back to 2014, when the city's drinking water source was switched to the Flint River." 
 
 Recent tests showed levels in the water to be within federal limits, prompting the state to end the subsidy on the last day of February. 
 
 The state's Department of Environmental Quality announced on Jan. 24 that Flint's water system is testing "at levels comparable to cities with similar size and age of infrastructure in Michigan and across the nation." 
 
 Michigan Radio reported that dozens of Flint residents protested last month at City Hall, chanting, "We don't pay for poison water." Nayyirah Shariff, the director of Flint Rising, told the member station that it's a "kick in the teeth to Flint residents." 
 
 The water problem began when Flint switched to a new water source in 2014 in order to save money, but failed to implement corrosion controls. 
 
 The governor's office formally notified the City of Flint that it would be ending water relief credits in a letter dated Feb. 7. State and city officials differ over whether Flint was given adequate notice. 
 
 Flint's mayor, Karen Weaver, has said the city was caught off guard. She said state officials promised the payments would continue through March 31. "This is a trust issue, that's what it is," she told reporters last month. "State officials say one thing, and then do another." 
 
 Michigan officials advise residents to continue filtering their water "due to the chance for disruption to pipes as the city replaces lead service lines." 
 
 Weaver wants to see state subsidies continue until the water is "tap drinkable" without a filter, as Carmody tells our Newscast Unit. 
 
 It's worth noting that the cost of water in Flint is "extremely high compared to other cities," according to Michigan Radio. Part of the reason that the state subsidized the water was to encourage residents to let it move through the corroded pipes, because an additive would help the pipes recover. 
 
 Michigan Radio points out additional concerns — an increase in delinquent accounts could lead to residential customers having their service cut off. It could also "crimp the city's ability to continue paying for water from Detroit." 
 
 Catching up on the Flint water crisis? Our timeline takes you through the major events. ||||| UPDATE: (02/15/17) - Water bill credits from the state will end this month for Flint residents, despite an attempt from Mayor Karen Weaver to get an extension. 
 
 Weaver says she's deeply concerned about the position that the city and its residents are in now that people will be paying full price for water. 
 
 She says water payments are one of the only revenue streams into the city. 
 
 The city uses the money to pay for water from the Great Lakes Water Authority. That's more than $1 million per month. 
 
 It's also used to cover the KWA pipeline debt, which is another $440,000 per month. 
 
 If people stop paying once the credits are gone, that could have a devastating financial impact. 
 
 ABC12 News reached out to municipalities in some of the country's driest cities to see what they pay each month for water: 
 
 Riverside, CA $38.45 
 
 Phoenix, AZ $38.85 
 
 Las Vegas, NV $48.70 
 
 Dallas, TX $55.89 
 
 The City of Flint couldn't give us an average of what customers pay. We have seen everything from $60 per month, into the hundreds. 
 
 One viewer posted her January bill to the ABC12 Facebook page. The resident paid about $150 for just the water portion. The state water credits knocked it down to about $50. 
 
 -- 
 
 (02/14/17) - Governor Snyder showed up about 45 minutes later than planned, but said the meeting ran long because it was constructive. 
 
 He explained the majority of the conversation focused on other State efforts to continue to help the City of Flint. 
 
 "We had a good healthy discussion about how we can continue to work together in Flint," Governor Snyder said. 
 
 But he announced he no longer has authority to have the state help pay the water bills. 
 
 "We are following along with what we said we would do, which is basically until the water is deemed to be to acceptable standards," the Governor explained. 
 
 Governor Snyder says November tests show the water has met the federal guidelines for lead. So, he pointed out the water credits could've actually stopped in December, but they waited for the January meeting - pushing the deadline to the end of February. 
 
 Mayor Weaver didn't speak to the media after the meeting, but mentioned Monday the decision caught her off guard. 
 
 "We're all frustrated. You know, I'm a resident as well and I'm frustrated, too. And we're going to continue to try to get as much from the state as we possibly can and that part has not changed," she said. 
 
 Governor Snyder says even though that assistance ends, other funding for the City will not. 
 
 He pointed out his addition of nearly $50 million for Flint, laid out in the budget proposal. 
 
 And he says they'll continue providing water and filters and cartridge replacements in the effort to move Flint forward. 
 
 "So it wasn't about just one issue and one item of different perceptions or views. It was really about how we could work together on you know continuing to see the recovery of Flint happen, everything from lead service line replacements to how to we bring more jobs to Flint," Governor Snyder said. 
 
 State Representative Sheldon Neeley is expressing frustration about the decision. 
 
 The Democrat has issued a letter to the Governor urging his office to maintain the water credits, saying it only compounds the distrust and turmoil plaguing the Flint community. 
 
 In the letter to Snyder, Neeley says while progress has been made in addressing the quality of the water, residents are still being told not to drink the water unless it has been properly filtered. Neeley says because of that, critical financial help should not be taken away from Flint residents. 
 
 “I think we need to roll out this plan much better. I think the Governor's Office and also the administration inside the City of Flint needs to spell out what's going on with the water and then have a level of trust because the City of Flint residents suffer from trauma. They've been traumatized in the community and right now to just cut off something cold turkey doesn't really bode well with many residents,” Neeley said. 
 
 To read Neeley's full letter, click the document in the 'Related Documents' section of this story. 
 
 We will be following this story. 
 
 The mayor has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday afternoon to discuss her thoughts on how it went. 
 
 -- 
 
 (02/13/17) - Flint's mayor is confirming the Governor will meet with her Tuesday as the city reels from word that state water bill credits will end this month. 
 
 Mayor Karen Weaver is urging the state to reconsider and extend what's become a lifeline for many residents. 
 
 People in Flint have been getting a 65-percent credit on water bills. 
 
 Sometimes those bills can be $300. 
 
 Now, with just a few weeks notice, the city has learned those credits will end this month. 
 
 The reason - the state says the city's water is meeting federal guidelines for lead, but people are still being told not to drink from the tap unless it's with a filter. 
 
 Weaver and her administration are concerned without the credits - people won't be able to pay their bills, which mean's the city will take a hit, too. 
 
 _____ 
 
 6:00 p.m. - Water bill credits from the state end this month in Flint. 
 
 Some people say without them, they won't be able to pay their water bills - which could lead to shutoffs and a budget deficit for the city. 
 
 Flint's mayor is addressing the problem. 
 
 Mayor Karen Weaver tells us she called Governor Rick Snyder right after getting the news credits would be over in just two weeks, to set up a meeting to see if they can be extended. Her administration was under the impression they didn't end until the end of March. 
 
 Last spring, Snyder created the program to give residents a 60 percent credit back on water bills that they're paying. It was a way to get people to pay them at all. 
 
 In a letter to the mayor's office last week, the state says they're ending the credit program this month because they say water testing shows the city's water is meeting federal guidelines for lead. 
 
 People are still being told, however, not to drink the water without a filter, or use bottled. 
 
 Weaver says the city was planning on having those credits for families and businesses through the end of March. 
 
 With some people receiving $300, even $400 water bills per month, without the credits, some people simply won't be able to pay. 
 
 Weaver is planning to meet with Snyder as soon as possible. 
 
 “We are all frustrated. I'm a resident as well and I'm frustrated too and we are going to continue to try and get as much from the state as we possibly can. That part has not changed,” she said. 
 
 Worst case scenario - if the state won't extend credits through March, the city will take a hit financially, and of course, the residents will too. 
 
 -- 
 
 (02/10/17) - A state suspension of water credits for Flint residents is leading to a protest at city hall. Dozens met to voice their concern over high water bills for water they say they still can't use. 
 
 The state has been giving people a 65 percent credit for each water bill since last spring, but that ends at the end of February. 
 
 "It was a shock. I mean, you would think for a decision that big that's going to affect every family individually that you would give notice and give more time. For a lot of people that are continuing to pay their water bills, that 65 percent credit made a huge difference," said water activist Melissa Mays. 
 
 Last spring, Governor Rick Snyder created the credit program to give residents a break with their high water bills, in addition to giving more of an incentive to get more people paying the bills again. 
 
 The state says the reason they're ending the credits is because they say sampling shows the city's water is meeting federal guidelines for lead. 
 
 However, people are still being told not to drink the water without a filter or use bottled water. 
 
 Residents who attended the protest carried around water bills for $300 or $400. They tell us they don't know how they're going to pay that without any reimbursement. 
 
 "I barely, I flush the toilet, I flush the toilet, you telling me I have $400 worth of flushed toilet water that's being used. I don't understand it," said Flint resident Carolyn Bennett. 
 
 A statement from Mayor Karen Weaver says she is disappointed with this news. She's requested a meeting with the Governor to see if they will extend credits. 
 
 We're expected to hear more from her Monday morning at a news conference.
– Flint residents still worried about their water get an added dose of aggravation starting this month: They have to pay their bills in full. The state has been covering about two-thirds of the cost for about a year now, in the wake of revelations that the tap water was unsafe to drink, reports NPR. No more. Now that state officials have deemed the water safe again, the subsidies disappeared as of March 1. While that designation might sound like good news, plenty of skepticism abounds, and not just from local residents. The water is still "unsafe to drink," pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha, who first helped bring the problem to the nation's attention, tells ABC News. Not helping ease fears is the state's recommendation that people continue to filter the water before drinking it. What's more, pipe replacement isn't finished. "For years, Flint residents paid the highest water rates in the country for water that was and continues to be unsafe to drink,” says Hanna-Attisha. “The people of Flint should not pay for water today nor for years to come.” The counterpoint comes from a scientist who helped conduct the new tests for the state. Flint's water is "in the range of other cities with old pipe," he says, while acknowledging that a "horrible infrastructure crisis" remains to be fixed. A report at WJRT suggests that Flint water bills are indeed among the highest in the nation, though the city couldn't provide an average. Anecdotally, the station reported that monthly bills range from $60 into the hundreds. (There's going to be a TV movie with Cher about the mess.)