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St. Paul Regional Water settles lawsuit with $1.5 million repayment fund. Rebates coming for some.

More than 5,000 St. Paul homeowners who have one-inch water meters will be getting a major rebate off their water bills in 2020. And some former customers can expect a check in the mail as part of a $1.5 million settlement agreement.

Earlier this week the board of commissioners of St. Paul Regional Water Services settled a lawsuit brought by two homeowners who said they had been unfairly charged hefty base fees and right-of-way recovery fees for having larger-than-average water meters.

As part of the settlement, St. Paul Regional Water agreed to create a $1.5 million fund to rebate homeowners who have large meters.

Former customers impacted by the charges can expect checks of roughly $118 to $324 as repayment for fees charged during five years of service.

As part of the settlement, which must still be approved by a Ramsey County District Court judge, St. Paul Regional Water Services does not admit any form of guilt or liability in the matter.

The lawsuit, initially filed in April 2018 by Thomas Dvorak of Fairmount Avenue and John Michel of St. Clair Avenue, was certified in Ramsey County District Court as a class action suit lodged on behalf of roughly 5,800 homeowners, the majority of them in St. Paul.

The plaintiffs, who said they had been overcharged for at least five years, had at the time requested $438.75 in repayment apiece, or about $87 for each year.

The suit notes that base fees for water customers with one-inch meters doubled in five years, rising gradually from $22.50 per quarter in 2013 to $45 per quarter in 2017.

It then dropped back down to $18 after the Board of Water Commissioners reviewed how it was assessing customers with smaller meters who used the same amount of water.

Even after the rates were adjusted in 2017, some homeowners who had service lines that were larger than one inch were still impacted by higher fees.

Under state law, the suit notes that water charges must be “just and equitable,” or as uniform and proportionate as reasonably possible compared with the cost of furnishing the service.

A city spokesman on Wednesday said the settlement will be paid from St. Paul Regional Water Services’ budget, which is not part of the annual city budget.

“Credit for the success of this lawsuit is in no small part due to the diligence of Tom Dvorak and the courage he and John Michel showed in standing up to make something right,” said Joe Lawder, the plaintiffs’ attorney, in an email.