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Jackson County Concerned About $197,717 Sewer Bill

Last updated on Monday, October 10, 2011

(BROWNSTOWN) - Jackson County commissioners are concerned about a $197,717.67 sewer bill the county recently received from the town.

County attorney Susan Bevers is looking into the bill and the legality of it.

Commissioner President Jerry Hounshel said the county recently paid a $33,214.31 sewer bill it received Sept. 8 from the town for sewer service at the sheriff's department, jail and juvenile center.

The facility, which opened in 2000, is located off Indiana 250 just east of town.

This is the first bill the county has ever received since the Sheriff's Department moved from the facility.

The town made an error in calculating the first bill, and that led to the second bill being issued and received on Monday, according to Town Clerk-Treasurer David Willey.

During the commissioners meeting Thursday, Willey says the town had not been billing the county since the move. The billing was not done because the town never received a reading on the water usage for the jail/juvenile center from Jackson County Water Utilities. It kind of fell through the cracks, Willey says.

Willey says the bill does not have to be paid all at once.

Because the juvenile center did not have the money to pay the first bill the county paid it. Now the second bill has arrived and the commissioners are not sure how that bill will be paid.

Gloria Baughman, executive administrator for the juvenile center, says they do not the money to pay the bill. The county still owes the town $164.503.67.

Baughman estimates the monthly sewer bill for the juvenile facility will run around $4,000 a month. Hounshel is concerned the county council has not budgeted enough for utilities for 2012.

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