By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
A town hall meeting was held at the Galion Public Library Tuesday night by two former members of Galion City Council with plans on returning $4 million in electric utility overcharges to the people of Galion.
Former Galion Council President Donald Faulds along with former council member and one-time Law Director Roberta Wade and John Smella claimed that the city’s electric fund was only supposed to have $3.5 million, but currently sits at $7.5 million due to overcharges between August of 2008 and 2013.
According to Wade, in 2008 the city received a recommendation from consulting firm Saville to raise the electric rate from one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour to 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour. The city rounded that up to 2 cents per kilowatt per hour over a one-year period.
Wade said that with the ordinance the amount per kilowatt hour should fluctuate in order for the fund to maintain $3.5 million, but that it hasn’t budged since 2009.
“The ordinance calls for the utility, line manager and the mayor to do the calculation,” Wade said.
The group alleges that the city administration’s current plans is to take that $4 million and pass the savings onto the larger power users while no one else would receive anything from the surplus.
“The current administration the mayor wants to use the money to offset the costs to the high power costs to the high power users and eat up that $4 million excess that is there,” Faulds said. “We are trying to get the public aware so they can make their own decision and go from there.”
Wade said that there were three ways in order to get the money back.
“Council has to say something is not right and we need to return it. Another way would be to file a class action lawsuit, or it could be put on a ballot,” Wade said.
“We don’t want it on the May ballot. Our goal is to shoot for the General Election in November,” Wade said.
The power rates weren’t the only electrical matter discussed Tuesday night. The city’s investment in the Prairie State power plant and the relationship with American Municipal Power, AMP, were also discussed.
“We pay for anything that happens to them, the Prairie site, and the coal ash dump site as well,” Faulds said. “It was a very bad deal and we got led down the line.”
Faulds explained to the crowd that council passed an ordinance to ask Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to research the legality of the 50-year contract between AMP and the city, but Mayor Tom O’Leary vetoed the issue saying it was “in the best interest of the public.”
Wade added that the first step into helping the matter would be for the city to fire Saville as a consultant, and then get the Attorney General to investigate the contract claiming that Saville is a partner with AMP.
Prior to taking questions from the audience, Faulds implored Galion community members to talk to their council representatives as well as the at-large council members about why the city is using Saville and the power cost adjustment for the city.