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Mandeville hears rate-study findings as residents press council over high water and sewer bills
Summary
Consultant presented a follow-up to a 2023 rate study and recommended ongoing monitoring and periodic reviews after finding billing rules had not been applied; residents urged the council to revisit high water bills, raise cemetery maintenance and questioned charging sewer for irrigation.
A consultant told the Mandeville City Council on April 9 that the city’s current billing practices deviate from the ordinance used in a 2023 rate study, producing underbilling and prompting a recommended approach of continued revenue monitoring and periodic rate reviews.
Grady Reed of Manchac told council members the 2023 study recommended a 7% increase to water rates and no sewer increase on the assumption the city would bill according to the ordinance. He said subsequent work, begun in 2024, found that the ordinance’s billing method was not being applied correctly and that the firm proposed a multi-tier water rate structure to treat minimum-usage customers and larger users more fairly. Reed cautioned that using winter water averaging to allocate sewer charges could disadvantage minimum-usage customers and said the city should continue tracking actual revenues against planned revenues and schedule future rate reviews.
Several residents raised water- and sewer-related concerns during public comment. Gerry Braud asked the council to revisit the water-bill discussion, saying bills were high in part because of sewer-rate treatment and asserting the city did not follow the recommended 7% water-rate increase from the earlier study. Becky Rohrbough told the council financial reports show the water and sewer funds were still “in the negative” and said the city could not simply revert to previous rates. Other speakers questioned the fairness of charging by meter size when the service is not fully used and whether sewer charges applied to irrigation usage.
The presentation and public comments framed a central tension for the council: how to balance fairness across customers while ensuring the utility funds remain solvent. Reed’s recommended next steps — closer monitoring of actual revenue against budgets and periodic rate reviews — would allow the council and staff to assess whether formal rate changes are necessary before adopting new ordinances or tariff schedules.
Council members did not vote on rate changes at the meeting. The council also received a broader projects update from Public Works Director Keith LaGrange and took no formal action on the rate recommendations; any future rate adjustments would require additional council consideration and formal ordinance action.
