Pima County made good on its promise to sue the city of Tucson over its plan to charge residents in some unincorporated areas more for their water.
The filing Friday in Pima County Superior Court argues that the cityβs new differential rates, which went into effect Dec. 1, are discriminatory, violate a state law requiring municipal utilities set rates that are βjust and reasonable,β and violates the state constitutionβs prohibition on special laws. The law firm of Snell and Wilmer LLP was hired by the county to file the lawsuit, which names the city, Mayor Regina Romero, council members and City Manager Michael Ortega as defendants.
βPima County and the Board of Supervisors didnβt want this,β said board Chair Sharon Bronson in a news release. βWe spent a year asking and even pleading with the city not to do what should be clear to everyone is unfair, unreasonable and unconstitutional. We gave them ample proof that what they were doing was wrong and illegal. Yet the City Council did it anyway. We have no option left but to seek relief from the court and protect county taxpayers from this ill-considered and illegal action by the mayor and council.β
The countyβs refutes in the lawsuit the cityβs claims as to why it imposed higher water rates on its customers who live outside city limits and why it also exempted others who get Tucson Water but donβt live in the city, such as residents of Tucson Unified School District, tribal lands and residents in Oro Valley and Marana.
The new policy, the county said, creates βan absurd, and unconstitutional, situation where Tucson Water customers living yards away from each other may be paying a dramatically different fee for water.β
The lawsuit said Tucson is using the differential water rates to βcoerceβ residents affected by the higher bills to support annexation into the city.
In late November, supervisors voted 3-2 during a special meeting to prepare the lawsuit. Supervisors Adelita Grijalva and Matt Heinz voted against the motion to sue.
The rate increases will affect about 29% of Tucson Waterβs customers in unincorporated Pima County.
The average Tucson Water customer in unincorporated county limits will see monthly water bills increase from $50.28 to $56.45 per month, according to the city.
Tucson officials said that city residents are subsidizing the cost of water delivery to residents in the county.
The city anticipates the new rates will bring in about $10 million in extra annual revenue to use for infrastructure maintenance, climate resiliency and providing low-income assistance programs.
The city says it takes more water, and more water infrastructure, to serve unincorporated areas. Tucson has maintained that raising water rates is purely a policy decision and is justifiable on those grounds alone, but the City Council earlier directed its staff to conduct the cost-of-service study anyway.
The county asks the court to declare the cityβs ordinance setting the new rates illegal and discriminatory, and that the court prevent the city from enforcing it.
