A major Connecticut water district has tentatively agreed to pay about $7.7 million to settle with thousands of suburban homeowners who paid inflated water bills for years because of what the courts called illegal surcharges.
The 49-page tentative settlement commits to dividing the money among overcharged Metropolitan District customers, but the figure could change depending on the final calculation of a variety of other costs, including attorney’s fees, the Hartford Courant reported.
The settlement, subject to approval by a judge, applies to 9,000 customers in East Granby, Farmington, Glastonbury and South Windsor who said they were overbilled through the succession of surcharges between 2006 and 2014.
The affected customers buy water from the Hartford-based district, but live in towns that are not member towns of the authority.
The district asserted that it was entitled to impose surcharges in nonmember towns because homeowners there do not contribute to the upkeep of the regional water and sewer infrastructure.
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