Pima County sues Tucson over water rate hike

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TUCSON, Arizona (KOLD News 13) – Pima County supervisors voted 3-2 to sue the City of Tucson for imposing higher water prices on Tucson Water customers who live in Pima County.

“We have a duty to stand up for the people we represent who are being inflicted this wrong,” said District Manager Rex Scott, who voted to sue the city. “There is always a risk, always a risk, to take legal action.”

Scott continued shortly before the vote: “Neither of us is happy with what we’re going to do.”

There are approximately 71,000 customers whose water bills will increase by an average of $ 6.17 per month, or about $ 74 per year, depending on their water usage. The increase will be 10 to 40%, depending on how much water you use. “

The city estimates it could raise $ 10 million annually.

“At this point in time, litigation seems like the right way to protect the non-incorporated Pima County people who are paying an unreasonable price,” said deputy district administrator Jan Lesher.

She added that she was hoping they could “sit around a table and come up with a solution”.

The city of Tucson sees itself on a solid legal footing by imposing different water prices, as they are called.

Eight other Arizona communities have imposed them, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Glendale, but many have been in place for years.

The county believes that this is a different case.

The city has exempted Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita, TUSD, South Tucson, and the reservations where Tucson Water is supplied.

“It is wrong to exclude certain customers in the non-legal personality from the higher tariffs, which shows a preference and reinforces these arguments about inequality,” said Scott.

But the city expects to win the trial.

“We had a pretty solid legal opinion from the city attorney based on precedents and other jurisdictions across Arizona,” said Steve Kozachik, a ward 1 councilor. “And I think we’ll win the suit.”

The Mayor of Tucson, Regina Romero, released this statement:

“Today’s vote by the Supervisory Board lacks any legal basis, is purely symbolic and sets a dangerous precedent. The courts have upheld the legality of different water tariffs, and water utilities across the state have already put them in place. “

“It is up to our elected leaders to guard our precious water resources, especially as we face the likelihood of Tier 2 scarcity in Lake Mead. I thank Supervisor Grijalva and Supervisor Heinz for their guidance and for recognizing that this lawsuit is futile. “

“The independent cost of service study clearly shows that it costs up to 26% more to deliver water to non-legal Pima County customers, which means that Tucson residents are currently paying the cost of delivering water to them subsidize. The county’s campaign to delegitimize the third party cost study – conducted by the same consultant the county uses to set its wastewater charges – is not fact-based. The district cannot simply reject this study because it did not produce the expected results. “

Ward 2 City Council member Paul Cunningham sent this statement:

“The county’s decision to seek legal advice is a waste of time and public resources. If the county is unwilling to spend our taxpayers’ money on a lawsuit, that is their business. “

He added that he hoped the city would reimburse legal fees.

The district will get an external lawyer to handle the legal dispute. It will not file an injunction to stop the water price hike from going into effect on December 1st.

“If the county is successful in this litigation, we will be able to provide assurances beginning December 1st that all of those dollars will be returned to the people who paid the tariff if they are found to be inappropriate,” Lesher said.

The county says it has been trying to resolve the issue since the city first broached the idea of ​​different water prices in January.

“We have already worked to an amicable settlement of this matter with the city,” said Scott. “They have either declined or not answered our repeated inquiries and are forcing us to take this step through their actions or inaction.”

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

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