Affordable Lawn Sprinklers and Lighting

River Creek

LEESBURG, Va. – For people who live in River Creek and four other communities in Loudoun County — you can apparently fight town hall and win.

A judge has ordered the Town of Leesburg to re-work the water rates for certain homeowners who surround the town but are outside the town limits and get their water from the town water system.

River Creek Homeowners Association President Stew Curley says the lawsuit took more than three years to settle.

“We were paying double what the in-town folks pay, but yet it didn’t cost any more to provide service to us.”

Rates for about 3,000 customers could be reduced by as much as 40 percent. But for the 14,000 customers inside the Town of Leesburg, rates could be going up. The “out-of-towners” pay about 25 percent of the water department’s budget right now.

“The in-town residents were receiving subsidized rates, low rates, because of the premium they were charging us,” Curley says.

Town Manager John Wells says the town council will be meeting Monday night to make a decision. He says the town may have to take money from somewhere else to make up the difference in revenue lost by the court ruling.

But if you are expecting a check in the mail, don’t hold your breath. The judge says the law doesn’t allow for a refund. Curley says they may be able to get credit on future bills.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)