Meeting Summary

The Legislative Committee met to review and discuss proposed changes to the parish's water billing rates and charges under item 2024-0407. Water Works staff, council members, and a rate-study consultant walked through proposed adjustments to meter installation charges, meter deposit amounts, the reconnect fee, and the billing tier structure that determines how customers are charged based on water usage. No members of the public spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting, and the committee spent most of its time on detailed technical discussion of how the new rates were calculated and why.

Watch Items

• A revised version of the water rate ordinance, now numbered 2024-0409, was introduced at the end of the meeting after staff identified a need for additional clarifying language in the section covering meter installation charges. The committee agreed to add this new language and formally amend it at the next council meeting rather than delay the process further. Residents should watch for that amended ordinance covering water billing rates and charges (the update to "Review existing water billing rates and charges, discuss proposed changes") when it comes up for a future public hearing.
• Staff raised the idea of addressing situations where a landlord's water account remains in a tenant's name, which can prevent the parish from collecting unpaid balances when tenants move out. This was described as a "future conversation" that has not yet been worked out and has no set timeline.
• A council member asked for a closer look at how much customers would actually save during a high-usage summer billing cycle (such as the 35-day cycle that generated numerous complaints last year) under the proposed change to the billing tier from 6,000 to 8,000 gallons, since the estimate presented was based on average usage across the entire year rather than the summer months when bills were highest. Further analysis on this point may follow.