Any unclaimed customer credit balances or deposits collected from consumers for the supply of water to such consumers for which a request for refund is not made within eighteen months after termination of services and which are unclaimed or abandoned after such eighteen-month period shall be deposited to the credit of the board in a special fund designated as the “Water Help Program Fund”. Within ninety days after termination of services, the board shall notify the customer by electronic mail, regular postage, or certified mail sent to the last known address of the customer that his unclaimed customer credit balance or deposit will be deposited to the “Water Help Program Fund”; however, a claim for return of the unclaimed customer credit balance or deposit shall not prescribe, if not claimed within eighteen months after termination of services. The board may deduct postage costs of the notice from the unclaimed customer credit balance or deposit. The monies in such fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 33:4083 and shall be used solely for the “Water Help Program Fund”.

            Acts 1995, No. 524, §1; Acts 1997, No. 456, §1, eff. June 22, 1997; Acts 2015, No. 246, §1, eff. June 29, 2015.