In August 2008, the city of Asheville lost another round in its legal quest to gain control of the city water system’s rates and revenues.
The N.C. Court of Appeals reaffirmed a lower court’s decision, finding that state lawmakers did not exceed their constitutional authority in enacting a law preventing the city from charging higher water rates to customers living outside its municipal boundaries. The three-judge panel’s ruling also upheld lawmakers’ right to require that the city use water system revenues only on water system maintenance and operation.
The current legal skirmishing has its roots in the adoption of the Sullivan Act in 1933, a 1981 city-county agreement known as the Water Agreement and the adoption of Sullivan Acts II and III in 2005.
Click here to download a copy of the N.C. Court of Appeals decision, filed Aug. 19, 2008.
