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Council President Says City Utilities Customers Shouldn't Have To Subsidize Fort Wayne's Legal Fight With I & M

By Jeff Neumeyer
June 18, 2010 Updated Nov 13, 2009 at 6:15 PM EST FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- Fort Wayne's city council president is demanding payback from the mayor's office. Republican Tom Smith says Tom Henry’s office should re-imburse the city utilities budget to the tune of $45,000. That’s what was spent on a direct mailing explaining why the city is fighting Indiana-Michigan Power over the value of the city's former electric utility. The city has been in an ongoing contentious squabble with I & M for months, what basically boils down to a dispute over how much the power company should fork over to the city for lines, poles and other electric infrastructure leased for the last 35 years. The city stated its position in the disagreement-- that I & M isn’t offering enough money for the utility-- in a mailing sent out to 100-thousand city water customers November 4th. City water customers picked up the tab on the mailing. Ozzie Mitson/City of Fort Wayne: " Well, whatever we spend here on the front end, we'll make it up in the settlement. This is such a valuable asset that the mayor feels we need to fight for the citizens of Fort Wayne." Tom Smith/(R) Fort Wayne Council President: " Don't use water utility customers money to fight an electric utility problem, that is not what city utilities money is for, and the mayor should pay that money back." The city has also spent some $300,000 in legal fees trying to negotiate a deal with I & M. The Henry Administration justifies those expenses, saying that’s nothing compared to the nearly $100-million price tag it affixes to the electric utility. The city did not want to include the letter in monthly utility bills, fearing the message would be ignored if contained in a bill stuffer.
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