City of New Orleans to temporarily waive late fees on violations through Amnesty Program

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The City of New Orleans gives out several tickets each year for parking violations. You can also be fined for things like code violations and even overdue library fees.

But, some choose not to pay and over time, interest starts to add up.

“We are talking about the receivables – it’s in the millions, we have a lot of outstanding tickets,” said Chief Financial Officer for the City Norman White. That’s millions of dollars of fees owed to the city.

That’s why they’re kicking off the Amnesty Program which will waive late fees.

Starting October 1st through the end of the year, several city fines will revert back to the original fine amount.

“If you have a bill out there for two years you haven’t paid, interest and penalties have accrued, we know that’s a heavy lift for you what we are hoping to do is take that heavy lift away,” said White.

The last time the city waived fees like this was back in 2019. White says it was a huge success.

“The citizens benefited from over $6,000,000 in savings,” said White.

This year the Sewerage and Water Board is also participating, covering late fees dating back to January 2021.

“Between October and December 30th we will be waiving certain late fees for certain eligible residential customers to reduce and ultimately eliminate their delinquent bills – at this time it’s not for commercial or industrial customers,” said Rene Gonzalez, the Chief Customer Service Officer for the Sewerage and Water Board.

City officials encourage you pay while it’s cheap. Come January a program to locate people who still owe money will go into effect.

For city-owed fees, you can pay online, give them a call or pay in the office. For the Sewerage and Water Board, you must make direct contact with them. Keep in mind, the Sewerage and Water Board office is only open Monday through Friday.

Click HERE to see if you’re eligible for the program.