City in Montana Agrees to Pay $3.6 Million to Settle a Class Action Lawsuit

A case pitting Montana’s largest city against itself has been resolved after the City of Billings and a group of residents suing it for billing practices on water bills has announced a settlement after four-and-a-half years of litigation.

The class-action suit centers on fees the city charged to residential users of its water and sewer service. The residents proved that the additional fees, which the city called “franchise fees,” were an illegal sales tax.

A new filing in Yellowstone County District Court on Monday shows that after two failed mediation attempts, a third try by the mediator found a solution that will work for both the city and the ratepayers, which includes most of the city’s residential property owners, reports the Daily Montanan.

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