MULTIPLE PROBLEMS REVEALED IN INTERNAL AUDIT OF DOWAS BILLING PRACTICES

It’s not a good read.

But then. audit reports are generally not laudatory.

After all, the primary role of an auditor is to report bad things.

Shreveport's internal audit of the billing practices/performance of the Department of Water & Sewage (DOWAS) is bad, as in really bad. And in this context the word "bad" is not used in the slang context as "good."

Water billing issues have dogged the city of Shreveport for a long time--going back several administrations. These complaints have generally been from homeowners who suddenly received  a humongous water bill that was unprecedented.

Since May of last year many instances of large unpaid water bills for master meters in apartment complexes have been revealed. This has resulted in water cut-offs at several Shreveport complexes last year. And now there are two more complexes facing water cut-offs in the near future.

The Dec. 31, 2024, Audit report revealed many significant findings that reflect on the integrity of the DOWAS Customer Service Division whose mission is to manage the billing and collection of charges for water and sewer services. Some of these appear to be the result of employee negligence and others border on employee malfeasance.
The key findings of the audit:

1. Internal controls need to be improved, ranging  from billing to collections to customer service.

2. Monitoring locked meters is inconsistent with no systematic approach or alerts to identify water use on locked accounts.

3. There was no definite shut-off time period if payments were not posted by due date or no documented policy to send accounts to collections and no current agreement with the collection agency.

4. There were no rules/regulations to address payment extensions, and some payment agreements remained active after payment defaults.

The installation of smart water meters will cure many of the problems incurred in DOWAS billing. These include incorrect reading of water meters, locked meters being compromised to obtain water, and water leaks resulting in excessive water consumption.

Difficulties in maintaining a properly trained staff in the Customer Service Division contributed to the many of the documented errors. In 2023 and 2024 this division terminated 19 employees (3 full time and 16 temporary employees). in 2024 Customer Service employed 6 temporary employees and 8 full- time employees.

Meter readers also contributed to many problems In 2023 and 2024 Customer Service terminated a total of 35 meter readers. In 2024 the division had 7 active temporary meter readers and 14  full time meter readers.

This year (2025) and next year (2026) DOWAS will be replacing all its water meters with Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) system. The AMI meters will automatically report the meter reads to the department. Unread meters will no longer be an issue and there will be no need for meter reader employees.

The Arceneaux administration acknowledged that DOWAS did not consistently apply shut-off rules for customers. "The root cause of not consistently applying shut-off rules originates from the COVID environment. The department was encouraged not to shut off customers due to the economic hardships created by the COVID economy.

As a result of not enforcing the shut-off and payment rules and regulations, customers were allowed to accumulate large balances, which even on payment plans were difficult, if not impossible to pay. Some large apartment complexes took advantage of this unwritten policy and accumulated large balances which became uncollectible."

DOWAS revised its delinquent water bill collection process in June of last year. The current policy is attached below.

The Administration acknowledged that Customer Service had no adequately documented payment agreements due to the lack of training and management oversight. Additionally, the Administration acknowledged that Customer Service was not adequately enforcing payment agreements due to the lack of a comprehensive set of rules and regulations, a lack of training, and a lack of management oversight.

Corrective action was set forth in the Administration's response to address these issues including more training, enforcement of rules and policies, and appropriate supervision of this division.

The Arceneaux administration continues to take heat over the taste, color, smell, and overall quality of  Shreveport water. Although the causes of these issues have been adequately explained to the city council, the frequency of these problems is becoming a credibility problem for DOWAS and the administration.

Adding to this is the constant source of citizen irritation are the massive amounts of unpaid water bills incurred by apartment complexes and businesses. . Private citizens who are paying increased water bills feel cheated when apartment owners and business owners get to skate on timely payment of water bills.

The uproar and resentment over these delinquent accounts is increasing. Add to this are the complaints on water quality and one can foresee a major campaign issue in the next mayoral/council elections unless substantial improvements are made on both issues this year.