Warning water price rises will hurt the poor STRUGGLING Melbourne households will miss meals and cut back on medicines to cope with huge water price rises to pay for the desalination plant, a peak welfare agency warns. Bills for hundreds of thousands of pensioners, healthcare cardholders and veterans will increase at a higher rate than wealthier customers from July 1 unless concession payments are updated to keep pace with a proposed record price hike. Victorian Council of Social Service acting CEO Carolyn Atkins said vulnerable households would be worse off because the State Government had committed only to lifting the $277 annual water concession cap by the rate of inflation. Concession owner-occupied households with average water use therefore faced an annual water bill increase of about 26 to 37 per cent - compared with 17 to 25 per cent for those better off - VCOSS modelling warns. "For a lot of families, this will be one extra bill, on top of increases for other utilities, that they can't pay," Ms Atkins said. Some people will have extra debt for longer. Others will eat less, send kids to school without lunch, buy cheaper, junky food or cut back on things like medicines and car repairs. State government spokesman Michael Moore said a record $1.6 billion in utilities, health, education and transport concessions, including $166.9 million for water, would be provided in the next financial year. "In recognition of the impact on low-income and vulnerable households of water price increases that are largely attributable to the previous Labor government's desalination plant, water retailers are increasing their hardship programs," Mr Moore said. The VCOSS calculations are based on a draft City West, South East and Yarra Valley price ruling for annual bill increases of $145 to $234 for typical Melbourne households. The Essential Services Commission will hand down a final decision later this month. Victoria-wide, more than 680,000 households get a water concession. VCOSS wants the payment changed to an uncapped 35 per cent discount. The current concession is a 50 per cent discount capped at $277 a year, or $69 per bill.