New Orleans – People in New Orleans who think their water bill is high might be surprised to learn they are not just paying for the water they use. Turns out, every year, ratepayers also foot the bill for millions of dollars worth of water, that hundreds of buildings and facilities get for free.
For Osborne Thomas, elderly and disabled, a recent New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board bill made his head spin. The $6,000 bill was apparently the result of a broken water line at his 9th Ward home during Hurricane Katrina.
“It was not my fault that the pipes broke,” said Osborne, upset that he was being forced to pay the bill.
He is not the first person in New Orleans to get blindsided by an outrageously high charge.
Last year, Paul Greenberg had to fight a $900 bill that was nine times what he would normally pay in a month. Before that, Alfred Cousins was flabberghasted by a $5,281 water bill. To add insult to injury, Cousins got his bill while living in a FEMA trailer.
“The clerk argued with me to be quiet, that this was the bill, they read the meter,” Cousins said.
Everyday citizens are fighting what they believe are over-charges. While every day, the Sewerage and Water Board gives away millions of gallons of water for free. While just about every resident and business in New Orleans pays to get water pumped to their property, FOX 8 discovered a huge exception, not many people know about.
According to a state statute dating back to 1899, all city agencies that are non-revenue generating, and even some that do make money, get their water for free.
“We provide free water to fire stations, public buildings for street cleaning - Sewerage and Water Board free water services,” said S&WB Executive Director Marcia St. Martin.
St. Martin provided a 73 page report that broke down who got free water and how much they received. In 2008, the City of New Orleans and its so called public institutions used more than 981 million gallons of water and did not pay a penny for it.
On the free list, City Hall, libraries, parks and playgrounds, city park, Audubon Park, the Museum of Art, the fire department, police department, sheriff's office, Orleans Parish Public Schools, and the list goes on. In all, it was a $3.8 million giveaway in 2008. So who pays for it all?
“You and I? Well, that’s not good,” said one New Orleans resident.
“The water, it’s built into the rates, so it’s the citizens of New Orleans,” concedes St. Martin.
Janet Howard is with the Bureau of Governmental Research, a local watchdog group. She says from an accounting standpoint, it is bad business. She says it is even worse for customers.
“I think rate-payers should be concerned about a lot of things,” said Howard.
“The cost is being shifted from taxpayers who would be supporting the services of the entities to ratepayers who end up picking it up.”
The Sewerage and Water Board says it is only doing what has been mandated by the state legislature. FOX 8 checked with neighboring Jefferson Parish to see how the water bill for parish government is handled there. Even though the parish runs the water department, the parish does pay for its water.
Same story in Saint Bernard Parish, where the parish pays the same rate as residential customers, minus taxes.
Back in New Orleans, City Park was the biggest user of water in 2008 with 418 million gallons. Audubon Park used 102 million gallons. Orleans Parish Public Schools used 185-million gallons.
For all 3 of those entities, there are caps in place on how much water they get for free. The BGR says for everyone else getting free water, with no limits on consumption, the problem is there is no incentive to conserve.
Take a youth study center on Milton Street in Gentilly. Last year it used 12 million gallons of water - four times more than City Hall. It added up to about $84,000 free of charge.
In fact, according to Sewerage and Water Board documents, the City of New Orleans' water usage last year, was up 113% over 2007.
It's a water system with capital demands in the billions.
The mayor serves as president of the water board. Several council members sit on the board as well. The BGR says because of that, there is little chance the Sewerage and Water Board will ever lobby the legislature to get rid of the free water statute benefitting the city, leaving rate-payers stuck with the bill.
