Your Water bill has changed.

Why? Because Mayor Madden has mismanaged public funds for so many years.

City officials — including Mayor Clay Madden — say the increases stem from a long-overdue rewrite of the water and sewer billing structure. According to the city, Mandeville’s water system was “chronically underfunded” for years and required a modern rate model that reflects real costs. However according to the study that the city hired, none of this is true.

Across Mandeville, homeowners are reporting dramatic spikes in their water bills, in many cases multiplying by 4×, 5×, or even 10× what their bills used to be. Some residents have received bills as high as $2,200, despite no change in household usage.

"I was gone half the billing period, and the usage is still tens of thousands of gallons more than normal."
one resident told local media — and others described similar impossible readings

Manchac Consulting Group, Inc. was commissioned to perform a rate study for the city’s water and sewage enterprise. The study showed a much different picture of the water enterprise fund and proposed rates versus what Mayor Clay Madden has forced on the citizens.

The water rate study recommendations by Manchac Consulting were to raise water rates by a reasonable 7% for 3 years, and then by 6% for 7 years. The study did NOT recommend an increase in sewer rates, but sewer rates WERE raised. The study directly disputes the claim that Madden has been telling the public that the “Enterprise Fund has been losing millions of dollars”.

However, Mayor Madden raised rates by as much as 900% on some residents and considerably higher than the Manchac recommendations on almost everybody. He is taxing residents without a VOTE OF THE PEOPLE.

UNDER THE NEW BILLING SYSTEM:

Water is billed in tiers — not just a flat rate.
Sewer charges are tied to metered water usage.
This change means customers who use more water (like irrigation or pool filling) can see much higher sewer charges, even though that water never enters the sewer system.

Mayor of Mandevillle Louisiana Clay Madden Thumbs up

At a recent town hall, a City Council member explained a key shift:

Previously, many households paid a flat sewer fee of around $20 per month.
Now, the sewer is charged per 1,000 gallons after the first 3,000, on top of tiered water rates.

WHY RESIDENTS SAY THE BILLS DON’T ADD UP

While city leaders emphasize the need to bring rates in line with actual costs, many residents say the charges still don’t make sense. Common concerns include:

Meter readings that seem far too high given actual use.
Sewer charges on water that never reached the sewer system (like irrigation or pool fill).
Bills that spike so dramatically that they affect people on fixed incomes.

"Irrigation doesn’t go into the sewer system, so why are we being charged sewer on every gallon?"
One resident at a community meeting put it bluntly

This Isn’t Just a Spike

It’s a Turning Point

Whether you’re worried about accuracy, affordability, or transparency, it’s clear this billing overhaul has shaken the community.

SOMETHINGS ROTTEN IN THE Mandeville WATER SYSTEM

Mandeville residents shocked as water bills spike up to 10 times higher

City officials say the water system had been chronically underfunded and needed changes

By Rob Masson
Published: Oct. 2, 2025 at 3:55 PM CDT

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Mandeville residents were surprised to find water bills in their mail this month that, in some cases, were four to ten times higher than normal. City officials say the water system had been chronically underfunded and needed changes.

“This has been a trying month for some Mandeville residents who say they were shocked when their water bill came in this month, with some threatening drastic action. ‘If this continues there will be a for sale sign going up,’” said Joseph Authement of Mandeville.

Authement said his family was stunned by a $2,200 water bill. “To put this in perspective, during the last billing period that was $180,” he said.

His bill was more than ten times higher than normal, with some neighbors reporting similar increases. “My average bill for seven years ran about $60 a month. This current bill, $300,” said Mandeville resident Cindy Roe Perry.

Water bill rates approved by the Mandeville City Council in January are just now showing up in mailboxes. “It’s just concerning people on fixed incomes are not prepared for this type of increase,” Perry said.

Mayor Clay Madden said the city’s water system had been underfunded by millions of dollars and the rate hikes were necessary. “We did a water rate study that showed our rates were significantly under market,” Madden said.

City officials said the latest bills cover a six-week period during the dry summer months and that amounts are likely to come down. “There is a possibility for high-end users to get a credit,” Madden said.

Authement, whose bill went from $180 to $1,100 a month, is looking for a refund. “I’ve heard from 50 people say they’ve had 500% increases to almost 2000% increase,” he said.

Madden said most homeowners are seeing increases of about $20 to $25 a month, but the city will be reviewing complaints. “We’re gonna be looking at it for the next 2 to 12 months, go through a full year,” he said.

Authement said he and his neighbors may not be able to wait that long. Madden said the city is using a new billing system and urged residents with concerns to call the city finance department so potential billing problems can be addressed.

Mandeville residents express outrage at meeting over water bills

Mandeville residents angry at water bills as high as $2,200

High water bills rain fire on Mandeville officials

BY KIM CHATELAIN | Contributing writer Sep 30, 2025 | 2 min to read

Mayor Clay Madden of Mandeville , LA Mandeville government officials dedicated the majority of Thursday night’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting to quelling the community uproar triggered by a drastic increase in the latest municipal water and sewer bills. The city has been bombarded with complaints from residents who claimed they were blindsided when the water and sewer bills received this month skyrocketed as much as 500%. It is the city’s first water rate increase since 2017. Finance Director Jessica Farno conducted a PowerPoint presentation to explain the need for the higher rates and the financial shortfall in the city’s water system.

Mayor Clay Madden said the city posted notices about the increase on its social media pages and sent a letter in recent water bills to alert the public. Clearly, the message didn’t hit home with many citizens.

“I take responsibility for the mishap,” Madden said. “That’s on me.” The city has been heavily subsidizing the cost of operating the municipal water system for more than a decade. The result was some of the lowest water rates in the region, officials said. Those subsidies run afoul of regulations of the Louisiana Water Sector Program, which provides grant money to local water systems for infrastructure improvements. To receive some $2.2 million from the program, Mandeville’s water system must be self-sustaining, meaning operating revenues must match expenditures.

The Water Sector Program funded a study conducted by Manchac Consulting Group that outlined a new rate structure to achieve that goal. Covington and Madisonville have also revamped their water system rates to make their systems self-sustaining.

The Mandeville City Council in January agreed to implement the rate structure proposed by the Manchac group. At the time, city officials said they were led to believe the new, rather complicated structure would translate into an increase of $10 to $20 a month for the average household.

Those projections, however, were based on usage of about 7,000 gallons of water per month. Most households use significantly more, especially during the summer. There was little debate on the issue at the time.

The new, tier-based rate structure uses water meter size and the amount of water used per month to determine bills. The rates are much higher for those who use the most water, such as people with swimming pools and irrigation systems.

While all resdientss are seeing some increases, Farno explained that only 14% fall into the heaviest water usage category. Those residents are seeing he steepest increases.

The change to the new rate system also resulted in the most recent bills to be for 45 days, instead of the usual 30. And, those bills reflect usage for August and September, the highest water usage months of the year. The next bill will be for only two weeks and thus much less, officials said.

Council members said they shared the public’s dismay over the higher rates but agreed they are necessary lest the city lose millions in state grants.

“I’m sorry your water bill has gone up,” council member Kevin Vogeltanz said, noting that his last bill went up 150%. “We do not want to charge you more money.”

Council member Jason Zuckerman was more succinct. “It sucks. I hate it.” Lakewood Heights resident Dave “Doc” Mancina, a retired CPA, said he sees the need to raise rates, but he stressed that it would cause pain to many residents.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room whose bill didn’t go up from 50% to as high as 1,500%,” he said. “It’s very, very upsetting. I’m upset that this fund has been operating at a loss since (at least) 2016 and it wasn’t addressed sooner. It makes absolutely no sense to me.”