Sikeston gets $234,000 from settlement with AT&T

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The city of Sikeston will receive $234,000 from AT&T as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement, the Standard Democrat reported. In order to meet a Sept. 15 deadline for paperwork, the settlement was accepted as an emergency ordinance during a special city council meeting Monday. The lawsuit was related to a dispute regarding whether extras such as miscellaneous and long distance charges should have been included in the 5 percent gross receipts tax paid to cities, according to Chuck Leible, city councilman. "In the future, AT&T should be paying about 35 percent more of their revenue to the cities than they have been paying, approximately," Leible said.