Our ludicrous life: Seattle water snafu
Filed under: Tax
The city of Seattle recently was found in court to have overcharged its water customers and ordered to rebate $22 million to them. According to Seattlepi.com, the Seattle City Council is about to approve a surcharge on its city water bills to cover the cost of the rebate. Yes- it is taking money from its water customers so it can give a rebate to those same customers. Meanwhile, the law firm handling the suit walked away with $4.2 million. Not surprisingly, the plaintiffs in this lawsuit have also filed other suits against the city, including challenging streetlight purchasing, expenditures for public art, and carbon footprint reimbursements to Seattle City Light. Ka-ching!
Meanwhile, legislators in nearby Oregon are considering tacking on $49.61 more tax on each barrel of beer produced in the state, which would represent a 1,900% jump. The funds will supposedly be used to fund treatment and prevention programs for, you guessed it, problem drinkers.
Finally, WalletPop recognizes Floridian Elvis Barrett for exceptional bad judgment. Earlier this month Barrett, while fleeing police who had attempted to pull him over for a traffic violation, managed to wrack up 50 traffic citations during the chase, including failure to wear his seat belt.
