SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Approximately 900,000 San Diegans who pay for sewer services may have had their rights violated.
It’s part of what being alleged in a massive new class action lawsuit against the City of San Diego, its Public Utilities Department and the San Diego City Council.
The suit calls it an “illegal financing scheme”. Attorneys who brought the suit claim the issue surrounds the city’s $60 million smart water meter system and how it was paid for.
The lawsuit alleges the city knowingly used about $19 million from the city's sewer fund instead of the city's water fund to help pay for that meter system.
Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of San Diego sewer ratepayers were allegedly misinformed about what their money was being used for. Attorneys argue sewer ratepayers were quite possibly paying for a system that they did not necessarily benefit from- the smart water meter system.
It’s still unknown whether there were any rate hikes directly tied to this.The suit claims the situation was an unconstitutional grab of $19 million in funds.
The San Diego City Attorney’s Office is reviewing the complaint and will respond through the court.
