A judge has ruled in favor of the city of Lewiston on all but one aspect of a lawsuit filed by councilor John Bradbury.
Judge Richard Greenwood ruled last week on motions for summary judgment filed by both the city and Bradbury. He ruled for the city on all but one of Bradbury’s causes for action, that the city was illegally charging its wastewater and sanitation customers an additional street maintenance fee to recoup the costs those divisions inflict on city streets, including excessive wear from heavy garbage trucks to pavement cuts for pipe maintenance. Greenwood found the fee is essentially an unauthorized tax that would require a voter-approved special levy under Idaho law.
The Lewiston Tribune reports the city has charged about $4.5 million in those types of fees for those two divisions over the past nine years, but the judge indicated he would not make his invalidation of the fees retroactive.
The judge also found Bradbury lacked legal standing to sue on water issues because he is not a city water customer, and the lawsuit was not filed as a class action suit.
The Tribune reports Bradbury has indicated he plans to appeal the decision He believes he has standing to sue on water issues because he is a city councilor, but will file another lawsuit on behalf of a city water customer in the next couple of weeks. (Lewiston Tribune)
