NEW ORLEANS – Yes, I’m one of the thousands of customers who claimed earlier this year to be overcharged by the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. And now I’m one of those customers who’s threatened with having my water cut off in two weeks.
For months– starting with a bill last September alleging that I had consumed more than four times as much water as usual– I’ve been fighting the Board.
But on Thursday (July 12), Sewerage and Water Board spokeswoman D’Seante Parks dropped the hammer. If the “trained analysts” decide that the Board is right and customers like me are wrong, the bill must be paid in full– or we’ll face the prospect of turning on the tap to see nothing run out.
“We are resuming our regular collections process,” says Parks, and customers should “use this time to resolve any outstanding balances” before the S&WB begins water shutoffs on August 1st.
Some of us intend to keep fighting.