Re-instate the House Arrest

The city has a whole new category of back pay to make up.

NEW ORLEANS -- Dozens and likely hundreds of New Orleans residents have been double-billed for sanitation services every month for years without any way of knowing it, a WWL-TV investigation has found.

One woman who was victimized for 15 years before stumbling on the truth calls it a "scam" because the city is only willing to reimburse her for three years' worth of errors and refuses to make the basis for the charges clear on bills.

"I call it a scam," said Uptown resident Francoise McHugh. "If you knowingly keep a form that's very confusing to people and you do not agree to change it and make it clear, I wonder why this happens."

McHugh and her husband bought their home in 2000. It had been converted from a double shotgun to a single dwelling. The change was clearly indicated on the sale documents at the time, in city tax records since then and by the fact that they have always had only one water meter.

 In New Orleans, the sanitation fee is typically added to everyone's water bill.  Recall that Mayor Landrieu recently pushed for a new measure that allows him to shut off water service to households that are deemed delinquent in paying these fraudulent fees.