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$140 million or $50 million? S&WB disputes amount owed in unpaid bills

After the initial number came out at a public meeting, the S&WB backtracked Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS — Some City Council members were left speechless Tuesday when they learned at a public meeting that the Sewerage & Water Board could possibly be sitting on as much as $140 million in unpaid bills from the last three years.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell had no loss for words when she read the coverage by The New Orleans Advocate.

"What do you want to do, screw the city?" she asked during a call to the paper.

She was more subdued Wednesday when she began the Sewerage & Water Board meeting.

“Seeing one of the articles in the paper -- kind of took a little step back, --  and it didn’t take a few minutes before getting riled up,” she said.

RELATED: S&WB could be leaving $140 million on the table, City Council says

Part of the concern appears to stem from the fact that Cantrell is trying to work with lawmakers in Baton Rouge to get tens of millions of dollars to help with the S&WB.

S&WB Executive Director Ghassan Korban did not dispute the dollar amount during Tuesday's Public Works Committee meeting.

But he put an asterisk on it Wednesday.

“I'm here to tell you the $134 (million) number is very, very way off in terms of what at the end of the day is potentially collectable. And I can tell you it's closer to $50 million,” he said.

RELATED: Report: Half of Sewerage & Water Board's water lost to leaks

Korban seemed to indicate the $84 million difference was due to free water for schools and other public buildings, not unpaid bills.

But the agency's own figures show that's usually only $6 million to $11 million a year.

Council member Joe Giarrusso -- head of the Public Works Committee -- said he met with the S&WB before Tuesday's meeting and they didn't dispute any of his findings. So, he's not sure where the $50 million figure came from.

"It's the classic math problem, you've seen the conclusion, we need to see the work and that's what we're asking for," he said.

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