(The Center Square) – The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans on Monday reported more than $23 million in unpaid court judgments and settlement agreements dating back a quarter century, an amount that triggered new state reporting requirements for large legal liabilities, according to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
As of 2024, political entities created by state law must report to the auditor if they had over $7.5 million in outstanding judgments or settlements in the current or prior year, not counting interest. The requirements were adopted by lawmakers over concerns that unpaid judgments can drive up costs for taxpayers through accumulating legal interest and may erode a local government’s bonding capacity, the auditor noted.
For the fiscal period ending between July 31, 2024 and March 31, 2025, the auditor says only one entity in the state met the reporting threshold and submitted a list of liabilities: the Sewerage and Water Board.
The list includes 210 separate judgments, consent judgments, settlement agreements and court orders against the utility, with original award amounts totaling $23,475,602. The cases span from 1999 through December 2024 and do not include any judicial interest that has accrued over time, meaning the board’s actual exposure is higher.
The report does not say how much the board has already paid or reserved for, only that the listed judgments and agreements remained outstanding as of the most recent fiscal reporting period. The agency could not be reached for comment.
Many of the largest items are tied to long-running disputes over flood-control and drainage construction, including a $2.125 million judgment in 2018 for Ariyan Inc. and others in a Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control case and a $2.096 million award in 2019 to M. Langenstein/K&B Louisiana in a related trial. Another SELA-related judgment to the same plaintiffs in 2020 came in at just under $1 million.
The board also faces multiple six-figure awards to homeowners and groups of residents, along with payouts owed to contractors and utilities including TKTMJ Inc., Entergy New Orleans, Level 3 Communications and Cox Communications.
Smaller awards include hundreds of individual claims and insurer subrogation cases filed by State Farm and GEICO over property and vehicle damage.
