From The Detroit Free Press: Inkster residents and businesses will be receiving refunds for overcharges on their water bills after a judge ruled that the rateswere too high and ordered the city to reduce them. Byron Nolen, the attorney for plaintiff Terrance Trahey, said retiredWayne County Circuit Judge Paul Teranes, who presided over the bench trial last week, ordered a reduction in water rates from $15.30 per unit to $11.96. The lawsuit was led by Trahey, who received a $6,000 water bill last fall. He argued that new digital water meters were not working properly and the city’s sharply higher water rates were in violation of the state constitution and city charter. Trahey’s $6,000 water bill was eliminated by the judge, Nolen said. “He said every citizen will get a credit on their account,” Nolen said. “I was a little surprised.” City officials didn’t return calls seeking comment Thursday. Installation of the new digital meters began in late 2011. A short time after, residents reported receiving bills that were much higher than normal. City officials said then that the old meters hadn’t been working properly and that people were undercharged for water. The lawsuit also claimed SCL Meter Service breached its contract by selling the city defective meters and that the city added hidden costs into its water rate, making it an unconstitutional tax because it had not been approved by a public vote. John Kosiur, operations manager for SCL Meter Service, said his company was dropped from the lawsuit when it was determined only to be the installer of the meters, not the manufacturer. He said the company installed about 8,800 meters on homes throughout the city. About 250 residents in the group Inkster Citizen Action Network tried to join in the lawsuit. Nolen said he will renew a motion to add those members as plaintiffs, taking the lawsuit to class-action status. Refunds, though, are going to be available to all residents, regardless of their status on the lawsuit. Inkster had about 25,000 residents in the 2010 census. Nolen said he was unsure about the total amount the citywill owe to its residents. “It’s going to be a lot,” he said.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:06:49 +0000
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