As of Jan. 1, New Orleans City Council implemented increased rates to services provided by Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. The rates will continue to increase by 10 percent each year over the course of the next eight years.
This increase in rates is needed to make necessary repairs to a 200-year-old system which, according to councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, is “now leaking over 40 percent of the water that is processed from our water treatment plants.” If the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans does not receive another extension in addition to the one under which it is currently operating, the city will be charged with fines of $5,000 or more per day. The council sees this increase in rates as a way to begin repairing a broken system.
