by Frank Taylor
ASHEVILLE – Legislators can’t just set up a new local government entity to seize control of Asheville’s existing municipal water system, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled 5-2 Wednesday, reversing a Court of Appeals decision.
Writing for the majority, Justice Sam Ervin IV found that legislators passed a local act relating to health and sanitation, which the state constitution prohibits.
Ervin noted the history of Asheville’s water system, which “has been built and maintained over the course of the past century using a combination of taxes, service fees, connection charges, bonded indebtedness, federal and state grants, contributions from Buncombe County and donations from property owners and developers.”
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