Water rate hike possible for Shreveport - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Shreveport's nasty problem with sewerage overflows has city leaders looking for ways to fix it and avoid more fines from the federal government.

City Council Member, Michael Corbin tells KSLA News 12 that the Department of Justice and the city have been engaged in talks to figure out how much time and money will be needed to make the much needed repairs.

One resource that could be tapped is you, the city's water customer. And if that's the case, you could see your water bill going up in the near future to offset the cost of repairs.

Corbin says the D.O.J. is likely to come down on the city with a strict mandate, and order some major repairs to the system to bring Shreveport into compliance with EPA standards.

This project is expected to cost 200 to 300 million dollars.

We asked Corbin if the city is prepared to spend that. He said "no", and added "there's no other way to say it. We're going to have to look at- where do we find the revenue to do this. Certainly, the citizens have heard about potential water rate increases, this is one way to do it, and something we'll be taking a strong look at over the next month."

Part of the failing infrastructure was repaired with money from a bond issue passed by voters in 2011. But Corbin says that only addressed about 100 million dollars of a 200 or 300 million dollar problem.

After city leaders and the feds agree on a time frame and cost for the project, more details of the plan will be made public.

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