LIVINGSTON PARISH - Some Livingston Parish residents in the Ward Two Water District are frustrated after receiving higher than usual water bills.

The Ward Two Water District Board said the district is shifting to advanced metering infrastructure or AMI. Water usage is being recorded when the old meter is changed to the new one. Board Member Wally Avara said it might be the first time the water meter has been read in a long time.

"When they're going to install the new meters, they're pulling out the old meters out of the ground, they're taking pictures of it with the meter reading and updating what the final bill is," Avara said.

Some residents may have been underpaying and their bills were just averaged based on past water consumption levels. Third party contractors were supposed to be reading the meters. They no longer work for the water district.

"They had to average some because they couldn't get to read them and other times the contracted meter reader may not have been on top of his job," Avara said.

Livingston Parish District Six Councilman John Mangus said Ward Two was reconstructing water bills digitally and asked that any concerned residents reach out to him.

Cookie Killcrease is the Ward Two Administrative Director. She said people can call her to discuss water bills at (225) 665-5188.