Officials: Oran water-rate hike legal for in-town, not out-of-town customers

Oran, Missouri, city officials have found missing pages of an ordinance that show it did not illegally raise water rates to city residents, but did inappropriately charge customers who live outside the city, according to a city hall news release.

The city raised water rates for its out-of-town customers without a proper ordinance, city officials said in the release.

An auditor reported in December that the city violated state law by improperly raising water rates for in-town and out-of-town customers more than four years ago, resulting in more than $35,000 in overcharges from July 2013 to May 2015.

According to the auditor's report, the city didn't have a properly signed ordinance from June 2013 raising the water rates, making the measure void.

But city officials said further investigation has determined that the water rates were legally raised for in-town customers, but not those residing outside the city limits.

As a result, there are still overcharges of more than $12,000, according to the final audit report.

Officials said in the release that they are working with the city's insurance company and assessing "all options in how to proceed with this information and correct the error for citizens."

The ordinance that was previously reviewed by certified public account Wilfred Bucher of Sikeston, Missouri, "was clearly not an accurate depiction of the board minutes and the voted and approved water rates," city officials said in the news release.

"The ordinance was suspect because it was missing pages and had numerous errors," the release said.

"However, on further investigation, the full ordinance from June 2013 was discovered," according to the release sent to the Southeast Missourian by city attorney Amanda Oesch.

The full ordinance "clarified the water rates for in-town customers and accurately depicted the voted water-rate raise," the release said.

But officials said the measure "did not accurately reflect" the water-rate raise for out-of-town water customers.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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