I'd appreciate some practical guidance in the following scenario:

Years ago, municipality did not charge councilmembers for water and/or
garbage.  That's no longer the case EXCEPT that Councilmember #1 has not
been charged for (and has not paid) for garbage service for the
approximately 3 years the councilmember has held the seat.

Councilmember #2 served for several years, was off for a period, and was
elected again last year.  Councilmember #2 served during the time when
council did not pay for garbage services.  (I'm not sure how long ago that
was.)

Obviously, the Councilmember #1 must pay for garbage service going forward.
Questions:

1. Is the municipality REQUIRED to bill and attempt to collect from
   Councilmember #1 all of the garbage services improperly received without
   charge during the current term of service?  (I am guessing this will be at
   least $2K.)

2. Assuming there is no bar by the statute of limitations, is the
   municipality required to attempt to collect from Councilmember #2 for the
   services received during a previous term?

3. What about other previous councilmembers who received free services
   and are still members of the community?

I appreciate this group's insight and experience.  I'm afraid this is going
to be a political hot potato (which I think is why it's not been brought to
my attention by the staff before now).

Thank you!

Kim Spady

OK, this is not a “legal opinion”. This is pure, practical politics.

Years ago, Broken Arrow wanted to build a sewer plant at the Arkansas river. At this time (the town was around 10,000 in population), the bulk of the town was 5 to 7 miles away. Obviously they needed a main collection line for the sewers.

As a part of a deal to gain the utility easement, the city gave a landowner personal access to the sewer line for no cost whatsoever (this was decades before my time).

Time passed. The farmer subdivided his land in the county and gave parcels to his children, who promptly taped into  his service line (it had capacity), effectively making it a sewer main. They never told us or paid anything.

Time passed, and they subdivided the land further to give parcels to the grandchildren. Et seq.

By the time we discovered the issue (we were smoke testing the line) we had four generations and decades of free use. We bit the bullet and only started charging from the time of discovery forward. We did not go back against the family (the original patriarch had died, so we successfully argued that the free sewer was personal to him).

However, if you want to fight with the current council, remember that they sign an oath that they will not accept any compensation for their office, now authorized by law. Since this free service was never formalized, your statute of limitations is likely to be based on contracts not in writing.

Those are may thoughts.

Mike Vanderburg

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Kimberlee Spady
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 2:31 PM
To: 'OAMA luistserv'
Subject: [Oama] Councilmember Benefits - What to do?

I’d appreciate some practical guidance in the following scenario:

Years ago, municipality did not charge councilmembers for water and/or garbage.  That’s no longer the case EXCEPT that Councilmember #1 has not been charged for (and has not paid) for garbage service for the approximately 3 years the councilmember has held the seat.

Councilmember #2 served for several years, was off for a period, and was elected again last year.  Councilmember #2 served during the time when council did not pay for garbage services.  (I’m not sure how long ago that was.)

Obviously, the Councilmember #1 must pay for garbage service going forward. Questions:

1. Is the municipality REQUIRED to bill and attempt to collect from Councilmember #1 all of the garbage services improperly received without charge during the current term of service?  (I am guessing this will be at least $2K.)

2. Assuming there is no bar by the statute of limitations, is the municipality required to attempt to collect from Councilmember #2 for the services received during a previous term?

3. What about other previous councilmembers who received free services and are still members of the community?

I appreciate this group’s insight and experience.  I’m afraid this is going to be a political hot potato (which I think is why it’s not been brought to my attention by the staff before now).

Thank you!
Kim Spady