NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The City Council received a report Monday detailing trash pickup in New Orleans and the billing practices of three different companies, but it might not give them the answers they so dearly want.

City Sanitation Director Veronica White, however, said the report doesn't offer an accurate look at billing.

WWL-TV.com

An audit of the city's trash companies found that one company could be over-billing the city by nearly double while two others are under-billing the city. But officials warned that the results are preliminary and talks will continue.

"The report was established so that we can have a baseline assessment to move forward so that we can have validity in the amount of service locations we are servicing at this time," White said.

Still, the City Council wants to know if the companies are overbilling for trash pickup. The report doesn't offer definitive answers on that – but it does compare the number of billed locations to the estimated count of serviced locations.

The findings show one company – SDT – may have overbilled the city for more than double the number of locations in the French Quarter.

It also shows two other companies – Richards and Metro Disposal – may actually have underbilled the city.

So, did SDT really charge too much?

"We don't think that's the case at all,” consultant Greg Rigamer said. “We don't think that accusation has been made at all.”

Rigamer, whose company GCR and Associates helped with the report, said it is not an audit.

He said it's tough to determine exactly how many service locations there are in the French Quarter. The contract calls for trash pickup at buildings with four or less units – something that doesn't fit with every building in the SDT pickup area.

"If you have a unit, an apartment house where you have five units, six units, 10 units and the residents are putting their trash out on the curb, we all know SDT is picking it up,” Rigamer said.

"This was a projected, estimated baseline because of the density in the French Quarter is very difficult to do an accurate count on that," White added.

So, while the City Council wants a clear answer on whether or not the trash companies are overbilling, this report doesn't analyze that.

White doesn't know if those answers will come.

"I'm not sure if something else is going to be done,” she said.

Rigamer said the report is useful and can help with future billing guidelines.

He says finding out about current billing accuracy would be tough, however.

"I think an audit would be very difficult going back because the information simply doesn't exist," he said.

Scott Satchfield can be reached at ssatchfield@wwltv.com or 504-529-6307.