Solomon, Peterson dispute disputed water bills at fairgrounds

Two local officials are at odds over a billing mistake that happened on and off for decades at the Great Northern Fairgrounds, formerly the Hill County Fairgrounds.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson spoke during the public comment portion of the Havre City Council meeting Monday, saying double billing caused by a water meter at the Hill County Shop on a line that had another meter caused tens of thousands of dollars of incorrect billing to the county. He suggested that the city give the county some pavement millings the city received free-of-charge during a Montana Department of Transportation project on U.S. Highway 2 rather than paying back the money.

Peterson said Wednesday he made the offer just to get things resolved and done with for the best of all.

"I did not ask for dollars in any way, shape or form," he said. "I just asked for a consideration."

Havre Mayor Tim Solomon said Tuesday Peterson's comments during the meeting took him by surprise - after Peterson talked to Havre Finance Director Doug Kaercher a year ago, the city quit billing on the extra meter.

"It's all coming from the same taxpayers, after all," Solomon said.

He said he took no more action because he thought the problem had been solved, he said.

History of the issue

Solomon said that while he was manager of the fairgrounds, in about 2005 or 2006, officials discovered that when Hill County Shop opened in 1979, the county connected to a line on the fairgrounds that had a meter but also installed a meter on the shop.

He said that the connections on the fairground, such as the horse barn and beef barn and east bathrooms, didn't use much water for most of the year, so the city just disconnected the meter.

In about 2015, the city saw that the barns were being used much more and were using more water so reconnected the meter. 

He said the plan was to deduct the charges on the shop from the charges on the other meter to prevent double billing, but when Peterson approached them the city discovered double billing had occurred.

Last year, the city disconnected the fairgrounds meter, Solomon said.

Contention on the issues

Peterson said he cannot confirm or deny whether the meter has been shut down, but said the fairgrounds have not been billed for those connections recently.

He said he started investigating when he saw high water charges for the 4-H Chuckwagon in the winter, when it was not being used much.

"I don't know where that water went," he said, but he did discover the meters causing double billing.

He said he does not know whether the meter in question measures water going to the Chuckwagon

Solomon said the meter does not register Chuckwagon use. The high water bills were due to lines breaking and leaking during the winter, he said.

Peterson said he keeps getting different answers whenever he talks to the city, and has a difficult time deciphering what meter goes where and how the billing works.

He said, regardless of the billing from 2007 to 2015 and in the past year, the county was double-billed from 1979 to when the meter was disconnected last decade and from 2015 to last year.

He said the city has an obligation to make good on that, but he is not looking for cash, rather highway millings the city received for free.

Peterson said he is not satisfied with how the city has handled the situation, including that he keeps getting different answers from the city and that when he asked to be put on the City Council agenda he was not.

Solomon said he didn't put the issue on the agenda at that time because the council could not address the issue until they knew what the county's issue was and it could be researched. He said he told Peterson to come into City Hall to talk to them, and when Peterson did, the meter was disconnected and he thought the issue was solved.

Peterson said the problem with the billing does seem to be solved.

"I thought we got this solved in 2018, going forward," he said.

Solomon said he also thought the problem was solved when the city turned off the meter, which is why he was surprised Monday.

He said the county also has been undercharged in another factor - the city has not charged the sewer rates applicable to the hookup.

"Technically, I'd say we're pretty close to even," Solomon said.