MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - The City of Missoula’s decision to appeal a court order that it pay property owners about $157,000 for illegally taking private land to widen a road has increased the legal costs it has to reimburse to the plaintiffs to just over $180,000.
In 2005, a group of 17 property owners along South Avenue sued saying the city took their land without reimbursement. In 2011, District Judge Ed McLean found the city should have used eminent domain proceedings before taking the land.
McLean’s decision awarded just over $157,000 to the property owners and nearly $73,000 in fees and costs.
The city appealed and the Supreme Court upheld McLean’s ruling. The Missoulian reports (https://bit.ly/1oxlxcW ) that on Wednesday, a District Court found the city owed the plaintiffs a total of $180,000 in attorney fees and costs.
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Information from: Missoulian, https://www.missoulian.com
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