Sewerage and Water Board billing has been under scrutiny for some time and one representative says the S&WB should keep it as simple as the bill he penned that he hopes the Governor will sign soon.
House Representative Matt Willard says his bill takes out all of the fluff and directly addresses one of Sewerage & Water Board’s chief customer complaints.
“My bill is simple. Meter reading for all customers starting on January 1st 2025.”
Representative Willard says this shouldn’t impose on operations as the Water Board is already in the process of installing Smart Meters.
“Their plan is to have half of the city installed the end of this year and the other half end of next year. Which means on January first they will only have to go out to half the city. I think that’s doable.”
Many New Orleans residents have opened their Sewerage and Water Board bill and have been left in shock at the amount owed. Willard says the S&WB's "estimated billing" is the problem.
“When I go to the grocery, the clerk doesn’t estimate how much my cart is, she scans each item. Residents should have their meters read and only pay for usage.”
Willard's bill awaits Governor Jeff Landry’s signature along with two other bills that effect the S&WB. One will lift the restriction that an employee must live in Orleans Parish in order to help staffing issues.
The other will setup arbitration for costumers that would be located in all council districts, with one for commercial accounts, so costumers won’t have to travel downtown. And with a representative from Sewerage and Water Board, they will have the chance to dispute bills. There’s a second part of the bill and that is for residents to opt into fixed billing until their Smart Meter is installed.
