Report finds some New Orleanians basically flushing money down toilet

Some New Orleans residents have basically been flushing money down the toilet.

The New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board improperly estimated sewage flow rates for three percent of customers, resulting in overbilling of those customers, a New Orleans Office of Inspector General investigation found.

According to the OIG, if that sample rate were applied to all SWBNO customers, the overbilling would total more than $900,000 for the entire year.

The Inspector General said this is a significant finding as the water utility seeks to recoup more than $100 million in delinquent accounts.

"In order for S&WB to collect delinquent accounts efficiently and effectively, it must first ensure that customers are billed the correct amounts for their monthly usage," said Inspector General Ed Michel.

The Sewerage & Water Board says it is taking action to refund the overbilled customers identified in the OIG report, and is working with its billing software vendor to keep this from happening again.

The Inspector General recommends SWBNO go further:

·       S&WB should promptly determine the cause of the miscalculation for Sewer Volume Charge and verify that the problem is corrected.

·        S&WB should identify all customer accounts affected by the error and determine the correct amount customers should have been billed.

·         S&WB should credit all customer accounts affected by the error