AJAX METAL PROCESSING v. CITY OF DETROIT

You are hereby notified that a proposed settlement in the amount of $4,450,000 has been reached with the City of Detroit (the “City”) in a class action lawsuit pending in Wayne County Circuit Court titled Ajax Metal Processing, Inc. v. City of Detroit, Case No. 23-015314-CB, presiding Judge Annette J. Berry (the “Lawsuit”).  The Lawsuit challenges the City’s tiered retail water volumetric rates (the “Tiered Rates”) applicable to users of its water supply services.  Plaintiff alleges that the Tiered Rates (consisting of a Tier 1 rate for water usage less than or equal to .6 MCF, and a Tier 2 rate for water usage above .6 MCF) are inclining block rates that result in charges to certain higher-volume users which allegedly exceed the City’s cost of servicing those users (the “Charges”).  The City maintains that its Tiered Rates are not inclining block rates and reflect a fair and proportional allocation of its water costs to both the public-health based lifeline rate (Tier 1 rate) and the uniform rate (Tier 2 rate) based on the monthly water usage by all customers.  Plaintiff has brought these claims on behalf of itself, and a class of all others similarly situated.   

Plaintiff is an entity which has paid the Charges imposed by the City.  The Plaintiff seeks a judgment from the Court against the City which would order and direct the City to disgorge and refund all Charges to which Plaintiff and the Class are entitled and would grant any other appropriate relief. 

The City denies that the City’s Charges are improper or materially in excess of the actual expenses of providing water service.  Thus, the City denies the Plaintiff’s claims, denies that it acted improperly or unlawfully, denies that the Tiered Rates preference certain high-volume users over others, denies any wrongdoing, and contends that it should prevail in the Lawsuit.  The Court has made no final adjudication concerning the merits of the Lawsuit at this time. 

On May 17, 2021, the Court entered an order certifying the Lawsuit as a class action.  You are receiving this Notice because the City’s records indicate that you are a person or entity who (1) paid or incurred Charges between August 1, 2022 and May 31, 2026 (the “Class Period”) and (2) used an average of at least 1.0 MCF per month during that time period and are, therefore, a Class Member for settlement purposes unless you request to be excluded from the Class.