Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration is working on a plan to pay for New Orleans’ aging water infrastructure, potentially shaking up a generations-old status quo that has resulted in distressed systems and no way to afford billions of dollars in deferred maintenance and needed improvements.
The idea, which is expected to be unveiled later this year, is to create a single fee, paid by all property owners, that serves as a combined revenue source for the Sewerage & Water Board’s drainage and tap water systems.
Those two separate systems are currently funded through different sources. Property taxes pay for drainage and customer billing rates pay for water. A parcel fee would generate revenue from a broader group of property owners, including nonprofits and churches, to pay for capital improvements to both systems, which need billions of dollars in upgrades.
Steve Nelson, the former S&WB general superintendent who now serves as Moreno’s infrastructure chief, shared the outlines of the parcel fee plan after a public meeting this week. Details concerning how much property owners would pay and how much revenue is needed are among the many complexities still being worked out in biweekly meetings that include both City Hall and S&WB officials…