Brickbat: A Flood of Money
New Orleans resident Laney Stockstill woke to find on her phone an overdraft notice from her bank. The Sewerage & Water Board had attempted to withdraw $31,679 from her account. The agency claimed she'd used 26 million gallons of water the previous month. She's just one of numerous customers who say the agency bills them not only for more water than they used but for amounts of water well above what anyone would reasonably use. The agency blames computer software and a lack of meter readers that force it to use estimates for billing purposes.