Monday, February 15, 2010
Citizens Suing Hurricane
WEST VIRGINIA....
Some citizens in Putnam County are suing the city of Hurricane, the Hurricane Sanitary Stormwater Board, Mayor Scott Edwards and the Putnam Public Service District. A few weeks ago, the Putnam Public Service District told residents that, if they failed to pay a watershed tax, an $18 a year fee imposed in 2005, their water would be turned off. One Teays Valley resident says he doesn't live in the city of Hurricane and is calling it "taxation without representation." Officials say people living about 1.5 miles outside the city limits are also required to pay the fee. Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards says, it's part of the the Clean Water Act, a mandate from above, and the city is only following the law. Edwards says federal and state laws allow the city to tax all those living within the watershed, not just the city limits. The fee is being challenged in court, and attorney Michael Callaghan has asked the court for an immediate injunction, saying, "It's an illegal tax and we will prove that in court."
Some citizens in Putnam County are suing the city of Hurricane, the Hurricane Sanitary Stormwater Board, Mayor Scott Edwards and the Putnam Public Service District. A few weeks ago, the Putnam Public Service District told residents that, if they failed to pay a watershed tax, an $18 a year fee imposed in 2005, their water would be turned off. One Teays Valley resident says he doesn't live in the city of Hurricane and is calling it "taxation without representation." Officials say people living about 1.5 miles outside the city limits are also required to pay the fee. Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards says, it's part of the the Clean Water Act, a mandate from above, and the city is only following the law. Edwards says federal and state laws allow the city to tax all those living within the watershed, not just the city limits. The fee is being challenged in court, and attorney Michael Callaghan has asked the court for an immediate injunction, saying, "It's an illegal tax and we will prove that in court."
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:42 PM 
