After a couple years of billing issues, the Sewerage and Water Board (SWB) said last fall that citizens owed the utility about $23 million dollars. Now, it turns out that number is even higher.
At a city council committee meeting on Tuesday, council member Joe Giarrusso revealed that the number is currently closer to $130 million.
Over the last couple years some customers complained of receiving inflated bills from the Sewerage and Water Board, while others said they received no bills at all. SWB Executive Director Ghassan Korban says the utility is addressing those issues, with actions like hiring more people to read meters.
Gassan also says he isn’t completely confident in the $134 million figure. That estimate could include billing errors, he said, and could actually be lower.
The news comes as New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell continues negotiating with state officials to send tourism money to the SWB to help it regain financial stability after making tens of millions of dollars in repairs after flooding in the summer of 2017.
City Council President Jason Williams worries state officials might not want to send the money if the SWB isn’t collecting all it can right now.
“Before people are going to be willing to invest in our system,” says Williams, “They’re going to [want to] know that we have worked out the biggest problems in our system. And this billing issue is as big as pumps and turbines.”
Korban says it could take until June just to determine the accuracy of the $134 million estimate.
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