It's one of the city's ongoing challenges and one of the most common complaints from those who live here.

Advertisement WDSU Investigates: 25-percent of water bills were delinquent in New Orleans in 2015 Millions possible go uncollected and could be written off Share Shares Copy Link Copy

It's one of the city's ongoing challenges and one of the most common complaints from those who live here.A water and sewage system straining under decades of wear and tear.And while rates have gone up, we've uncovered that last year alone more than 25 percent of all bills were delinquent in some way, and the city is missing out on millions of dollars.City Hall says it's stepped up collections in recent years and is cracking down, but the number of unpaid bills is high -- and so is the amount of money being left on the table.Which is upsetting to some, who say the city needs to make sure it's collecting what's owed.On any given night, Cafe Giovanni in the French Quarter is playing host to locals and tourists alike.Restaurant owner Duke Locicero is always willing to speak his mind, especially about the sewerage and water board."I get to the boiling point quite a bit," Locicero said.He hit that point last summer, and again in the fall -- when the water pressure in Orleans Parish dropped - twice, and he was forced to boil his water."It kills your business," Locicero said.A big concern, in a city driven by tourism."It really makes a difference, how do you tell someone coming into the city, this a-plus city -- that your can't drink the water or take a shower. It's crazy," Locicero said.Like every other homeowner and business in the city, Locicero is paying more, as the city raised rates 3 years ago.That money is meant to upgrade aging pipes and pumps.But just because the city raised rates, doesn't mean everyone is paying their fair share.Last year, the city said there were just over 165,000 (133,904 open and 31,392 closed) accounts.Of that, more than 44,000 (19,730 open accounts and 24,278 closed accounts) are past due or delinquent in some way, shape or form.That means, more than 25 percent of all 2015 accounts were delinquent."I don't know how you do a rate hike when you can't collect the money that are suppose to get already," Locicero said.A City Hall spokesperson says it's not as bad as it seems. That the city does go after past-due bills, though it takes months -- even years -- to collect.In a statement, the city told WDSU: "Uncollected amounts have improved dramatically over the past five years as a result of more effective collection practices that are in place at sewerage and water board. Collection numbers are not available for 2015, but in 2014 S&WB collected 98.85% of bills."But that 98 percent collection rate can be deceiving - it still means a lot of money is being lost.Here's why: City Hall says if bills are delinquent at year's end the sewerage and water board discontinues service to each customer with balances over $75 and at least 60 days old.If service is not restored within 30 days, the account balance is sent to a collection agency.There's a three-year statute of limitations on the city and collections agencies to get the money.The city says starting from the time an account is billed, the sewerage and water board has three years to collect on the account. after that the balance becomes prescribed - meaning the statute of limitations expires and the debt is considered uncollectable and the balance is written off.A sewerage and water board spokesperson says that in the year 2012: "We billed $136,496,043.64 during 2012 and did not collect $1,888,203.39 of that amount by the end of 2015, yielding a collection rate of 98.62% and an uncollected rate of 1.38%."Meaning the city missed out on and will never collect almost $2 million from that year alone.Money Locicero feels could be used to upgrade an aging water system already under repair."Hopefully, my fingers crossed -- it's been 24 years that I been here - I'm hoping it gets better," Locicero said.The rate increase was passed 3 years ago and it will continue for 8 years, through 2020.That money is being used to repair and upgrade the main water plant.We can also confirm that sources tell us the city's inspector general is also taking another look at the sewerage and water board after several audits into how that body operates, pays overtime and bills customers.