Court ruling: Marion must pay sewage debt to Meridian



Editor’s note: Due to our noon press time on Wednesday for our Thanksgiving edition, this story will not appear in Thursday’s paper. We will, however, have a print version of this story in the Friday edition.



By Jennifer Jacob



jjacob@themeridianstar.com

The Chancery Court of Lauderdale County has ruled that the Town of Marion must pay the City of Meridian a total of $430,000 in back sewage and water treatment fees, said Mayor John Robert Smith at a press conference Wednesday.

“This has been going on for ten years,” Mayor Smith told the Star, later adding, “I hope this brings this matter to a conclusion.”

Marion Mayor Elvis Hudson, who took office in 2005, said he was unaware of the ruling as of Wednesday afternoon, and said “I have been in court with Mayor Smith so much, I barely even know what my office looks like”.

The argument began when Meridian increased the rate it was charging Marion, per gallon, for water and sewage treatment. The town of Marion disputed the increased amount and refused to pay it, racking up a large bill owed to the City of Meridian, and letting interest accrue upon it. The City of Meridian sued Marion for the debt, and Marion appealed several court rulings and filed unsuccessfully for bankruptcy in an effort to to be relieved of the debt.

Mayor Smith said Wednesday that elected officials in Marion even went so far as to take town funds in the form of Certificates of Deposit (on which Marion would have collected interest) and convert them into cash and cashier’s checks (on which Marion would have collected no interest) in order to hide the funds from the City of Meridian.

When asked if Mayor Smith’s allegations were true, Mayor Hudson replied, “I cannot answer that question … I’m not going to respond to anything Mayor Smith said.”

Hudson added that if he had done anything illegal, he would be in jail.

Hudson continued to say that the Town of Marion “will have to abide by the court order until otherwise authorized” and added, “Mayor Smith has got the upper hand as of now.”

The ruling stated that Marion must pay $271,571.80 from accounts that had been frozen during court proceedings, and must issue a warrant to the City of Meridian for the remainder of the amount. This means that Marion must pay their debt to the City of Meridian before spending money on anything that is not required for the town to function. Some of the things deemed as necessary for the functionality of the town include: “police protection, fire protection, building inspections and routine water and sewer services”.

The ruling said of monies that Marion claimed were necessary for town functionality and thus could not be used to pay off Marion’s debt to Meridian, “The funds total of $362,500.00 is not used on day to day governmental operations of the town. These are all funds which will not impact the day to day operation of Marion. This is simply money that Marion wants to use for other purposes or to reserve under a bond issue or to buy something new (a new wastewater treatment plant).

“These available funds total $577,237. This amount is more than adequate to pay the judgement in full and to allow Marion to continue its general governmental operations. Contrary to the claims of Marion, it would not be forced out of business,” according to the ruling.

Mayor Smith said he expects Marion to pay the $271,571.80 “immediately,” because, since the funds are held by the court, there is nothing else they can do with it.

The language of the judgement was strong, saying, “The public policy of Mississippi is, without question, that municipalities should pay their bills in a timely manner.”