Sixteen accounts within Cameron Parish Waterworks District 9 were not in compliance with the department’s “disconnect policy,” with half of those accounts having outstanding balances ranging from $570 to $2,860, according to a recent audit.

The audit, conducted by Gragson, Casiday and Guillory LLP, was issued on the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s website on Monday. The water district is located in the Grand Chenier area.

According to the water board’s policy adopted in 2011, meters should be disconnected if a customer does not pay within 30 days of receiving a bill, but the audit stated that district management is not following the policy. Of the 16 accounts listed, one remained connected despite a lack of payment and seven remained connected even though payments were habitually late.

Customers were also being allowed to reconnect their water “if only a portion of the outstanding balance is paid,” the audit reads. The district’s policy, however, requires all disconnected accounts to be paid in full before they are reconnected.

Board member Tina Horn said the board was informed that many of the past due accounts were residents who did not return after hurricanes Rita and Ike. She said there are about 400 residential customers within the district.

“We will look at and address our policy of turning water on and off,” she said.

The report also found that inadequate budgeting procedures led to “revenues being under budget by 5 percent or more and expenses being over budget by 5 percent or more,” a violation of state law.

The district has such a small staff, which could lead to “misstatements in amounts” that employees may not notice within a timely manner, the report reads. The same finding was listed in an audit conducted last year.

It recommends that duties should be segregated, but district management responded saying that they don’t believe “it is cost effective to employ adequate personnel to achieve appropriate segregation of duties.”(MGNonline)