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Century May Take State To Court Over Prison Water Bills
April 9, 2009
The Town of Century may be taking the Florida Department of Corrections to court to collect for utility service the town says is owed for Century Correctional Institute.
The town is looking to collect almost $300,000 from the Florida Department of Corrections for water bills the town says the state owes. The town has asked the prison system to pay up, but so far it looks like the billing will end up in court, according to Mayor Freddie McCall.
“It looks like we are going to have to enter a court proceeding,” McCall said.
Under the town’s contract to provide water for the Century Correctional Institute, there is an added charge for water usage above 6 million gallons per month.
McCall said ongoing high water consumption by the prison was somehow overlooked, and now the town wants the prison system to pay up a grand total of $298,751.54 in overusage charges dating back to January 2000.
The state did pay over usage charges on recent bills, McCall said, but they failed to pay the town’s bill for charges from January 2000 to May 2008.
“They’ve done admitted guilt because they sent me those checks,” McCall said of the four payments received from the state.
Gas Problems Settled
The Town of Century was successful in recovering over $300,000 for prison system natural gas usage. The town received a $302,488.40 check in late October to cover back gas billings for the Century Correctional Institute.
The dispute stemmed from billing practices that dated back to 2000. Under the town’s agreement with the DOC and Century Correctional Institute, the prison was to pay for natural gas at the rate of 120 percent of the town’s actual cost. The town’s billing system would generate a bill at the normal rate, then town employees would re-rate the bill and send a new bill about 10 days later at the 120 percent rate. That adjustment was originally done twice a year based upon the rate from nine months earlier.
But in 2000, there was spike in natural gas prices, Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney said recently, and the town went back to the DOC that agreed to pay 100 percent of the town’s cost on a monthly basis. But they did not agree to pay the 20 percent profit margin until a new agreement was reached.
Town Accountant Robert Hudson had reported to the council several months ago that the DOC owed about $569,000 in back payments for natural gas. But that amount included $127,000 in interest that Dannheisser said the DOC was not willing to pay, and the DOC disputed some of the billing amounts.
The check received in October was deposited into the town’s gas fund, McCall said, with the town council to make the eventual decision what to do with the funds.
Comments
2 Responses to “Century May Take State To Court Over Prison Water Bills”
Rules and Regulations are in place to protect the folks that pay on a timely manner from those that don’t. It is just like the preperation H warning on the tube that says “do not brush your teeth with this product,” somewhere somebody did it, so now it has to be on the label. Somewhere somebody didn’t pay their water bill, so now there should have been a policy in place stateing the town’s collection time frame. When that policy was breached the town should have placed a lock on the meter until such time the outstanding balances including penalities and unlock fees were paid in full. Come on Century, get it together, you are making it so easy for the non-north-end residents to make a case for take over.
The saga of sue happy Century continues… Just keep biting the hand that feeds you, Century. Charging 120% of cost for natural gas is nothing short of extortion, not to mention the ongoing water issue; thus the state should counter sue. Florida has deep pockets and there’s hope that a state counter suit would force Century into bankruptcy. And in the end, the citizens could do away with city hall, which would be a bonus for those who own property of substantial value within the “city limits” because there would be no more town taxes for them.
Go ahead and litigate, but be careful what you ask for. The state needs to save money and closing the town’s cash cow might be in the making for Century.