The 11th Circuit Court has ordered Lexington to pay West Columbia $5.7M for lost revenue.

According a newspaper report from the Charleston Post and Courier, (Link to P&C article) the 11th Circuit court found that the City of West Columbia had lost close to $4 million in revenue that Lexington was billing to customers that were legally West Columbia customers. The customers, more than 260, were in the service area designated as West Columbia’s.

West Columbia has one of the lowest costs for water of all South Carolina municipalities.

Lexington was also accused of not reporting the tapping into of West Columbia water lines, and taking more than $1 million of water.

The article states that Justin Black, West Columbia’s senior assistant city administrator, in 2016, raised a concern that West Columbia water service properties were being serviced by Lexington. West Columbia filed a lawsuit in 2018 over the right to distribute water service to customers (who were designated as West Columbia customers) west of I- 20, between West Columbia and Lexington.