The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) and the City of Highland Park have reached an interim agreement, including payment of Highland Park's $24 million judgment owed to GLWA for unpaid water and wastewater services in the 2014 case.

That $24 million bill has some residents worried the water to the city could get shut off. But others say bankruptcy is just another way for the city to avoid paying what it owes.

The legal road has run out for the city, and the millions of dollars it owes the Great Lakes Water Authority are about to come due.

After years of litigation over nonpayment of bills, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Great Lakes Water Authority, which means the millions in arrears the city is to GLWA are to be paid.

A ruling from an appeals court could put the City of Highland Park in a world of hurt. That ruling re-instates a $21 million unpaid water bill, and that’s a number the city of less than ten thousand just can’t afford.

The battle over a proposed water rate hike in Metro Detroit this summer is getting heated.

DETROIT After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division, the City of Highland Park has paid $49,181 in back wages to four current employees for violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD investigators determined the city violated FLSA overtime provisions after it failed to combine the hours worked by some employees who worked in both fire protection and law enforcement activities. This practice resulted in violations when those employees worked overtime hours, but because the employer did not add together time spent in both tasks, the city failed to recognize and pay the overtime. Employers must understand the laws that apply to their employees, and ensure that workers are paid all the wages they have legally earned, said Wage and Hour Division District Director, Timolin Mitchell. The outcome of this investigation should remind other municipalities and employers to review their pay practices to ensure they comply with the law.