The Sun City Home Owners Association has not given up the fight to overturn consolidation of five wastewater districts that resulted in increased rates for the Sun Cities.
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The Sun City Home Owners Association has not given up the fight to overturn consolidation of five wastewater districts that resulted in increased rates for the Sun Cities.
The agency appealed the Arizona Corporation Commission’s 2017 decision to consolidate five wastewater districts operated by EPCOR Water Co., which resulted in higher rates for Sun City and Sun City West customers. The Arizona Court of Appeals Jan. 23 rejected an appeal of SCHOA’s lawsuit seeking a rehearing of the 2017 wastewater rate case.
Shortly after that decision, the SCHOA board met and discussed where to go from there, according to Jim Hunter, SCHOA board president.
“The board approved funding to begin this appeal process on behalf of every homeowner and condo owner in the Sun City district,” he stated in an email.
Like the appeal, this latest effort, if successful, will affect the Sun City West district. For that reason, the Property Owners and Residents Association supports SCHOA’s efforts. PORA officials said they will continue to follow the case. Mr. Hunter said he expected support from other communities, such as Youngtown, should the Supreme Court choose to hear the case.
“We led this fight because we believed, and still believe, that forced consolidation is wrong, and it results in unfair rates to the residents,” Mr. Hunter stated.
Sun City homeowners contributed more than $62,000 toward appeal legal costs and SCHOA spent about $103,000, according to Mr. Hunter.
The three-judge appeals court voted 2-1 to reject the appeal, with judges Kenton D. Jones and James B. Morse voting to affirm the Arizona Corporation Commission’s rate and consolidation decision and Judge Michael J. Brown dissenting.
Mr. Brown, in his dissenting comments, stated his fellow judges erred by giving absolute deference to the ACC’s decision to approve consolidating five dissimilar wastewater districts and establish a single rate for all customers in the newly formed single district.
“Even though our Constitution and statutes prohibit the imposition of discriminatory charges or rates, the commission never determined whether the new consolidated rate design discriminates among groups of customers who are quite dissimilar, other than they now share a common owner,” he stated.
“Not only did the commission fail to resolve the discrimination issue, plainly raised by SCHOA, it washed its hands of any responsibility to address it.”
Mr. Brown also disagreed with the other judges’ treatment of the ACC with what he called excessive deference.
“For decades, both this court and our supreme court have repeated broad pronouncements suggesting that commission decisions, especially in rate cases, are essentially untouchable,” he stated.
Judges Jomnes and Morse cited the state’s constitution regarding the extent of the ACC’s authority in rate setting.
“(The Constitution grants the commission) full power to ... prescribe just and reasonable classifications to be used and just and reasonable rates and charges to be made and collected, by public service corporations for service rendered therein. ...” they stated in part.
They further stated the ACC is a department of the government with powers and duties as well defined as any governmental branch.
“... where it is given exclusive powers it is supreme,” they stated. “Its exclusive field may not be invaded by either the courts, the legislative or the executive.”
Regarding discrimination, the affirming judges believe SCHOA could only prevail if it established an error in the commission’s finding that customers across the newly formed district receive like and contemporaneous services.
Rusty Bradshaw News Editor | Sun City &
Sun City West @SunCitiesEditor
Rusty Bradshaw is a 40-year veteran of community journalism, having worked at newspapers in Wyoming, Oregon and Arizona. He has been with Independent Newsmedia 15 years.
Rusty earned a junior college certificate from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming and a bachelor of science degree from Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande Oregon.
An avid football fan, Rusty also enjoys photography, reading, spending time outdoors and enjoying life with his wife. He also authored three books of fiction, “The Rehabilitation of Miss Little,” “Moist on the Mountain” and "Gorge Justice." Visit www.rustythewriter.org.
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