Skokie Appeals Federal Judge's Dismissal Of Water Lawsuit

SKOKIE, IL — Skokie is appealing a federal judge's ruling tossing out a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by elected officials in Evanston who raised water rates after the neighboring towns failed to negotiate a new contract.

On Oct. 23, Corporation Counsel Michael Lorge filed a notice of appeal of U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras' Sept. 27 order dismissing the village's federal lawsuit over water rates.

Kocoras' order granting Evanston's motion to dismiss the case cleared the way for a pending case in Cook County Circuit Court, where Evanston's attorneys have asked a judge to certify the new rates, to continue. He found Skokie had not been injured, and may never be injured, since it never actually paid any increased rate.

"The state law at issue here suggests that Skokie may continue to pay the current metered rate for like consumers until the Circuit Court of Cook County determines that Evanston's new rate is valid," Kocoras wrote. "Thus, until Skokie actually pays an increased water rate set forth by the Ordinance, its alleged injury is neither actual nor imminent."

In fact, rather than paying an increased rate, the village has been paying less. Meanwhile, Skokie taxpayers have so far footed the bill for more than $70,000 in legal fees from law firm of Foley & Lardner in connection with the federal suit, according to invoices obtained by Patch following a public records request. That total does not include the cost of litigating the Cook County case.

After the towns failed to come to an agreement upon the expiration of a water contract in February 2017, Skokie village officials unilaterally decided to start paying a lower rate than the one in its expired agreement with Evanston.

Mayor George Van Dusen said the village gave itself a discount to $0.78 per 1,000 because Evanston had negotiated a lower rate with the Niles-Morton Grove Water Commission. However, that deal saw the smaller villages pay more than $80 million to build the infrastructure to connect to Evanston's system. Evanston has pointed to the fact that all "comparable communities" pay more.

Related:
Federal Judge Tosses Skokie's Lawsuit Against Evanston Over Water
Skokie Sues Evanston Saying New Water Rate Violates Civil Rights
Evanston Sues Skokie To Enforce Water Rate Hike

Skokie's attorneys are representing three residents and a local business — Elaine Jacobson, Paul Pitalis, Robert Quane and the Georgia Nut Company — who are acting as plaintiffs on the federal case, which Lorge previously described as "unique."

As defendants, the complaint listed individual Evanston aldermen, who the city's attorneys said were "named in order garner headlines." But the suit alleged that Evanston set the increased water rates for "discriminatory purposes unrelated to and outside the scope of their governmental duties and authority" and asked a judge to declare the the city violated the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the constitution.

Lorge, a former village trustee and now the town's highest-paid employee, said the suit aimed to constrain "Evanston's monopolistic exercise of market power over basic water rights."

Skokie Village Manager John Lockerby said Kocoras "ruled narrowly on procedure and not on the substance of the case," following the ruling. "We continue to believe the least expensive and most expeditious way to get to a fair solution is to settle this dispute through binding arbitration."

It is unclear how appealing the ruling he described as procedural would lead to binding arbitration. Neither Lorge nor Lockerby responded to a request for comment and an inquiry as to whether village officials plan to hire the same outside law firm for the appeal.

Related:
Skokie Violated Law By Withholding Water Docs: Attorney General
Village Hikes Consumers Prices While Unilaterally Cutting Payment
Evanston Asks Federal Judge To Dismiss Skokie Water Lawsuit
Skokie Calls Evanston Water Lawsuit 'Reckless And Hostile'

In response to Skokie's suit, Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty said struggling families in his town have been "subsidizing the delivery of water to Skokie for decades, and it's time for that to end." He said the city had adopted the rates Skokie describes as "punitive" according to the same methodology the city has used for other communities.

"We realize that there's a market for water, and that Skokie has other options, including Chicago. But one option they no longer have is water subsidized by Evanston taxpayers," Hagerty added, while promising not to "use divisive and dramatic language in this dispute, take other actions intended to intimidate or bully our neighbor, or litigate this dispute in the press."

According to an order from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Skokie's appellate brief is due Dec. 23 and Evanston's answer must be submitted by Jan. 23, 2020. Any reply from the village is due by Feb. 13, 2020. But before an appellate panel must hear the appeal, attorneys for the two towns are due to meet Nov. 22 for a mandatory mediation session to discuss whether a settlement is possible.

Ann Tennes, Skokie's marketing and communications director, also did not say whether staff planned to hire the same outside law firm for the appeal. But she provided a statement Tuesday saying village officials hope to "obtain relief from [Kocoras'] ruling in order to proceed with the case" and, at the same time, believe the scheduled confidential conference "aligns with the Village of Skokie's efforts to negotiate terms for a settlement in this matter rather than litigate a resolution."

The next status hearing in the Cook County case, which has been put on hold under the federal matter is resolved, is set for Feb. 20.

Read More:

City of Evanston v. Village of Skokie (Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2017-CH-12966, filed Sept. 26, 2017)
Village of Skokie et al. v. City of Evanston et al. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Case No. 18-CV-04289)
Judge Charles P. Kocoras' Sept. 27 Order (Granting Evanston's motion to dismiss)