PLAQUEMINE - Utility customers in Plaquemine say they continue to face high rates, not only from utilities but also from sewer fees, but some City leaders say they’re barely charging enough to get by.

For months, 2 On Your Side has reported on erroneous utility charges in Plaquemine. Misread meters led to high bills for Plaquemine residents, and two weeks ago the city council hired a Customer Service Director to organize the department. Tuesday night the council met again, this time addressing sewer rates, which some customers say are unaffordable.

Since the city hired Lenora Crawford as the new Customer Service Director two weeks ago, she says miscalculated utility accounts have been fixed. Crawford says part of the fix comes from reorganizing systems in the understaffed department.

“If there’s been high consumption, we’ll have the meter reader go and reread the meter, take photos, and go back and do a comparison to last year,” Crawford said.

Natasha Johnson is the Selectman of District 6, and she says there’s still work to be done, and she’s working with residents to correct the errors. On top of misread meters and miscalculated utilities, Johnson says there’s confusion about how sewage bills are being calculated, which leads to high sewage bills across the city.

While some city leaders have argued for lowering sewage rates, Johnson says the rates can’t be lowered if it’s unclear how folks are currently being charged.

Tuesday night, council members pulled out calculators and tried to work backward, figuring out where the charges came from.

“It's not clear enough to tell me how we're being charged here in Plaquemine,” Selectman Michael Carlin said.
The confusion has led to bills being inconsistent with actual usage. Johnson said she calculated her bill based on the math formula she was given, and she was charged $14 more than she should have paid.

No decision was officially reached, but city leaders say they're going to give it another go at the next meeting scheduled for September.