A Lincoln County judge declined to order the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) to issue a refund in the case of Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD.
Zweig, et. Al. vs. MSD is a class action lawsuit that was filed over the validity of MSD’s impervious stormwater charge, which was implemented in March 2008. In July 2010, the judge ruled that the charge was invalid. In October 2010, a hearing was held on if a refund of impervious charges collected since March 2008 should be made. The judge’s decision not to order a refund is the ruling from the October hearing.
In response to the July ruling, MSD suspended the impervious stormwater charge and reinstated a previous system of flat charges and taxing districts to pay for stormwater service. The funding shortfall between what was to be collected through the impervious stormwater charge and what will be collected through the system of flat charges and taxes forced MSD to cut $15.5 million in stormwater services and projects from the current budget. Also, due to how the taxing districts were previously established, MSD can only provide customers inside of I-270 with very basic stormwater services, while customers outside of I-270 will receive virtually no stormwater service. MSD announced these cuts on October 15, 2010.
It is important to keep in mind that MSD is two utilities under one umbrella – a stormwater utility and a wastewater utility. Thus, the judge’s rulings in the Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD will not affect MSD’s ability to provide wastewater collection and treatment service, as these activities are funded from wastewater user charges that are separate from stormwater funding.
This ruling brings to a close the first two phases of the Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD trial. A third phase, to award plaintiffs’ attorney fees, is scheduled for January 18, 2011. MSD will await the judge’s ruling from the third phase of the lawsuit before making a decision on whether to appeal or not.