City Of Tulsa And Tulsa County Consider Mediation Over Past Due Utility Bills

By Emory Bryan, The News on 6

TULSA, OK -- The City of Tulsa and Tulsa County plan to hire a mediator to settle a dispute over utility bills at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds.

The city of Tulsa provides utilities to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, and has been locked in a utility billing dispute with Tulsa County since the land was annexed.

"The reason for the mediation is, if we went to court, which is an option, we'd probably be there a long time" said Mayor Dewey Bartlett.

The mayor said in a Tuesday morning meeting of the Tulsa City Council, he had suggested binding arbitration, but the city's Legal Department said the city could not accept an opinion which would obligate a future administration.

The mediation, by contrast, is a legal opinion that the parties could use to draft a legislative agreement. The city of Tulsa has suggested a retired judge to handle the mediation.

City Councilor John Eagleton questioned why the city of Tulsa isn't more aggressive in collecting the bill, considering residential customers have fees added and utilities turned off.

"Why are we treating them different?" John Eagleton said.

Mayor Bartlett said the activities at the county fairgrounds were too important to jeopardize by turning off the water.

Mayor's Chief of Staff Terry Simonson said there is a legitimate legal dispute and until the matter is settled, he doesn't expect the city to take action against the county.

One key legal question, according to Simonson, is the difference between regulations and utilities. The county considers storm water a regulatory fee, which it is not required to pay, while the city considers it a utility.

When the annexation occurred, Simonson said there was a lack of corresponding ordinances to clarify the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the two governments. The single page MOU was signed by former Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and former County Commissioner Randi Miller.

"It was not as clear as it could have been" said Terry Simonson.

The City of Tulsa bills Tulsa County for water, sewer, storm water and trash.

Tulsa County has been paying a portion of the bill, while disputing the trash and storm water fees.

Tulsa County has a separate contract for commercial trash service with a private company.

4/20/2010 Related story: Tulsa City Council Questions Utility Bill Negotiations

Mayor Bartlett said he has drafted a letter to Tulsa County agreeing to go forward with the mediation, which several councilors said they supported.

Any agreement arrived at through mediation would have be approved by the Tulsa City Council before it became effective.