The New Orleans Inspector General says in a new report that about half of the Sewerage and Water Board accounts are delinquent. The overdue accounts amount to more than $10 million.
Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux says 47 percent of Sewerage and Water Board accounts are past due.
“It does seem like about half the people are paying for the other half," he said. "I mean, they eventually close these accounts, but they take their sweet time to do it.”
Executive Director Cedric Grant says it’s complicated. In his response to the report, Grant said the city has elderly, disabled and low-income residents struggling to make ends meet. He said cutting off water triggers a domino effect of social services, such as relocating families from homes unsuitable for occupancy.
When the city of Detroit cut water service for non-payment, a United Nation’s panel in 2014 called it a violation of international human rights.
Quatrevaux said that argument is not part of his job.
“I don’t want to debate that," he said. "I don’t know. I don’t know what a right is, other than the Constitution.”
The city says it will have a new billing and collection system in place by the end of the year. Quatrevaux says the matter will be reexamined in 2018.
