6th Sewerage District sale going on ballot

By Matthew Penix
St. Tammany News
Published on Monday, August 11, 2008 10:59 AM CDT

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Parish Council members unanimously agreed without discussion Thursday night to place the sale of the debt-riddled 6th Sewerage District in West St. Tammany to a private company on the Oct. 4 ballot.

The debt, $500,000 worth of outstanding revenue bonds, makes it nearly impossible to purchase $4 million in needed improvements without a rate increase for low-income customers between Covington and Abita Springs.

As is, the average median income for the district’s customers is roughly $17,000 a year, too little pay to even ask for a $10 rate hike from $25 to $35 per month, the district’s board said.

To dodge a rate increase for the area’s 900 customers along Louisiana Highway 36, the district plans to ask voter permission to sell its sewage collection lines to Florida-based Utilities Inc. for $896,000. The district’s governing board would then be disbanded.

The money would pay off debts, and parish officials will decide what to do with the rest, district officials said.

If Utilities Inc. buys the lines a rate hike is still possible, sewage district officials said. As of press time, Utilities Inc. officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Founded in 1965, Utilities Inc. is a private holding company that serves residential customers in 15 states.

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