Terry Salazar of Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett, & Moser of Dallas will appear on Pratt on Texas at 6:35pm today to discuss the lawsuit filed by John Beck and Beck Steel, Inc.
Via press release:
John Beck and Beck Steel, Inc. File Suit Against the City of Lubbock Regarding the Overcharging of Storm Water Drainage Fees by the City
Today, August 3, 2015, John C. Beck and Beck Steel, Inc. filed suit in Lubbock County State District Court against the City of Lubbock, Texas (the “City”), challenging the illegal actions of the City in overcharging Storm Water drainage charges for the collection and transfer of drainage charge revenues for uses not authorized by the Texas Local Government Code or the Drainage Ordinance recently enacted by the City in October 2014. The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction be issued, preventing the City from continuing to overcharge and illegally collect millions of dollars in excessive and unreasonable drainage charges each year from the Storm Water rate payers.
John C. Beck, the President of Beck Steel, Inc., said that he and his company, like every other person charged a monthly Storm Water drainage charge, are being unfairly overcharged by the City. He emphasized that while individuals cannot sue the City because they disagree with the City’s actions; the law does permit an individual to sue if the City’s actions cause us harm, and it can be proven that the City’s actions were done illegally. The City’s actions in overcharging Storm Water drainage fees are illegal and it is my intention to prove it. Not only have I been harmed by the City’s actions; all the rate payers of Lubbock have also been treated unfairly. There should be a public outrage over the City’s actions that have required us to unnecessarily pay millions of dollars each year for the last several years. If someone doesn’t challenge the City’s illegal actions, it will continue unchecked. John Beck said that in April 2015 he tried to communicate with the Mayor and City Council about his concerns in a detailed letter he sent to them; but they didn’t even give him the courtesy of acknowledging receipt of his letter, much less provide a reasoned response to the issues he raised. After efforts to meet with the City Attorney were similarly unsuccessful in creating any dialogue, Beck felt he had no choice but to go to court to get this very important public issue addressed and resolved.
The lawsuit filed against the City asserts that more than $15 million was overcharged by Storm Water to rate payers in the past year for illegal purposes. The City’s proposed budget for FY 2015-16, which is now being finalized by the City Council, reflects that the City intends to collect more than $93 million in illegal Storm Water drainage charges from the citizens of Lubbock in the next six years.
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