Thursday, October 26,J
Thursday, October 26, 2000
-
nt tax district, which
llected in the area go dirt
STATE
Page 7 A
THE BATTALION
exas cities sue utility companies
improvement of
A act figures of the costs:
ovements are not knowe,i
since the plans
to bike trails and the ere; DALLAS (AP) — From the Red River to the Gulf,
ill require private funds: Texas cities are suing big utilities and accusing them of
hese areas are privat underpaying fees for laying pipes and stringing power
Ines along public streets.
ire hoping the private sec ' Lawyers for the cities accuse Reliant Energy HL&P
dinate with the city to® in Houston and Dallas-based TXU Corp. of cheating the
jes.” Henryson said, cities out of about $350 million.
9 The utilities did this, the lawyers say, by using a nar-
losv definition of gross revenue in calculating fees paid
lithe cities.
; : : J The utilities say they are honoring the terms of their
'ontinuea from Pagel Jontracts with cities, and they say that customers will
Ind up paying more if the cities win
ig mtiiviauais a inov.M^" ^
J In Southeast Texas, 47 cities, in-
'’■luding Houston, tiled lawsuits last
individuals a Novi,
make claims forpersK]
ch hall council w
^idline to piesent upkeFeek against Reliant Energy HL&P,
e Life loi the fateot«,| 1 j c p 1 ^gy p, as underpaid them
honed items Jill 13 million, dating to the 1950s. The
i and the anthropology ij iwsu it s came a day after a state dis-
has been cataloging Wet judge ruled the cities must tile in-
g items collected frpmmvisual lawsuits rather than join in a
nemorial. I he departiB] ass . ac tion case against HL&P.
every item that was* Judge John Wooldridge also over-
cing a few items inc turned a jury’s finding in an earlier
>r enhanced preservatiwase that HL&P had intentionally de-
66
Every penny
TXU isn't paying,
you and I are
paying it in city
taxes”
— David LeBrec
City of Denton lawyer
d. Residence Lifehoped|| a uded three cities by underpaying franchise fees. The
1 to the collection wl jliry wanted to award $34.2 million 1 —mostly in punitive
>ut the hall closets, lamages — to Pasadena, Galveston and Wharton, but the
r business, Aggie Recniudge cut the sum to $ 1.2 million,
mittee (ARC) member Mi A spokeswoman for HL&P said Wednesday the com-
sophomore general stud®any plans to appeal the remaining judgment and $13.6
juested help from REmillion in attorney fees for the cities' Houston law firm,
n ARC's visits to hometO'®’Quinn & Laminack.
ils to reemit future Aggie; In North Texas, Denton city officials accuse TXU of in-
n't be everywhere, sovgentionally underpaying $1.17 million in franchise fees by
oget interested students deducting some income before calculating the franchise
hometown high schocipes. It tiled suit June 7 in state district court in Denton,
said. The goal of ARC t David LaBrec, a lawyer hired by the city, said Wednes
school students interest
g the University. Its rat
ting high school campusj News ill brief
day that 21 other cities have endorsed the lawsuit, from
Sherman to Round Rock and Odessa to Fort Worth. He
said the case could involve $240 million.
“This money is rightfully due to these cities,” said
LaBrec, of the Dallas firm of Strasburger & Price.
“Every penny TXU isn’t paying, you and I are paying it
in city taxes.’’
LaBrec complained that the city’s case has been made
more difficult because TXU said its gas records for Deni
son only go back to 1998. A judge granted his request for
an order that TXU not destroy records relating to fran
chise fees in any city. .
The utilities said their contracts
with cities call for paying a percent
age of revenue from energy con
sumption, which they interpret as
charges for gas and electricity, not
miscellaneous items.
TXU spokesman Chris Schein
said the utility pays Denton 4 percent
of what it earns for selling electricity
in the city and 3 percent of gas sales.
But, he said, the utility does not owe
Denton part of the revenue from oth
er items such as bounced-check
charges, hookup and disconnect fees
and sales taxes.
“The logic behind it is, if Chris Schein bounces a
check, you shouldn’t be paying taxes on my bounced
check,”’ Schein said. And applying the franchise fee
on taxes collected by TXU “is paying taxes on top of
taxes,” he added.
Denison’s lawyer also complained that TXU has been
lobbying other cities to stay out of the dispute.
Schein said the utility has been giving those cities
information about the impact of the lawsuit. TXU has
also sent cities letters reassuring them that if Denton
wins the case, TXU will pay the higher franchise fees
to the other cities.
state in early January,
r to represent ARC
school, a student must
1C information meetins
torial Student Center
Nov. 1 or 2. Training,
ired, will be held Nov.
business, RHAVice
Nations Amanda Trimfc
wenty arrested
m drug charges
ORANGE (AP) — The arrest tally
tose to at least 20 Wednesday as
uthorities continued a second day
f rounding up people accused of in-
olvement in a crack cocaine distri-
rnalism major, annourUbution ring,
ongoing series of roinJf Local, state and federal officers
ssion to be held Wednc began the arrests about 6 a.m. Tues-
.m. in 507 Rudder. T4ay j n Orange, at the extreme south-
2 will discuss student east tip of Texas, when indictments
arking, Traffic andTra ‘ naming 29 suspects were unsealed,
ervices (PTTS).
Besides the 20 arrests, authorities
seized five vehicles, four weapons,
728 grams of powder cocaine, 28
grams of crack and $2,000 cash.
Jailers indicted for
sex with inmates
LUBBOCK, (AP) — Three former
Hale County jailers have been arrest
ed and charged with having inappro
priate sexual relations with female in
mates at the county jail in Plainview.
The three jailers were released ear
lier this week after being indicted by a
grand jury last week, the Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal reported Wednes
day. All three face up to two years in
jail and a $10,000 fine.
Enrique Sanchez, 21; Ricky Hino
josa, 26, both of Plainview; and Den
nis Scott Crawford, 21, of Lockney,
were released from jail earlier this
week after posting $5,000 bond.
Hale County District Attorney Ter
ry McEachern said there were a
number of inmates involved and that
the three men had only worked at
the jail a short time before being
fired this summer.
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Attention A&M Honors Students!!!
There will be an important meeting for all honors students who
have completed at least three honors hours and one semester at
Texas A&M with a minimum 3.40 dPR this Thursday, October
26, at 6:30 p.m. in Rudder Theater. There will be a short
reception in Rudder Exhibit Hall prior to the program, and
students should meet in the Exhibit Hall. The purpose of this
meeting is to make students aware of what the Honors Program
at Texas A&M offers beyond honors classes. Topics will include
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