Suit Against City Claims Illegal Billing

Veteran city Councilman Bob Dinsen and former councilman Ray Littrell have filed a lawsuit in small claims court alleging that the city has misinterpreted its water ordinance and is billing residents illegally.

Dinsen, who challenged the city’s water rate structure with a failed ballot measure last year, said he and Littrell filed the suit after the city rejected an earlier reimbursement claim for $300.

At issue is a $6 base rate that Dinsen said should include water. The $6 rate is a flat fee, in addition to the charge for water.

“We filed the claim with the city because the way we read the ordinance is that the minimum amount for water is $6, and we read it as saying you get water for that,” Dinsen said.

The $300 asked for is three years’ worth of water bills over the $6 base rate for both Dinsen’s and Littrell’s households.

“He’s wrong,” City Manager George Tindall said of Dinsen. “I don’t recall that he’s ever raised this publicly. He’s a councilman and he ought to ask the council to change this if he thinks it’s wrong.”

Tindall, Controller Anthony Andrade, water department head Terry Lane and the city of Garden Grove have been named in the suit.

The suit is scheduled to be heard June 17.