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City Council Meeting October 9, 2000 Page 4 ayes, 0 nays. Resolution No. 2000-140, resolving that the City of Paris, Paris, Texas, agrees to participate with other similarly situated Texas cities in the TXU/Lone Star Gas system and join the City of Denton in pursuing causes of action against Texas Utilities Company, Lone Star Gas Company, and otherentities associated with TXU to collect delinquentfranchise fees, that the City of Paris, Paris, Texas, agrees to contribute $1.00 for each individual residing within its corporate limits based in the 1990 U. S. Census (except for such portion of its population that may not be residing within the TXU/Lone Star Gas service area), to underwrite the cost of legal and expert witness fees and related costs to be expended on behalf of the cities in this matter, $.50 being due on or before October 31, 2000, and the other $.50, if assessed, being due and payable on the date of the Steering Committee of Cities Participating in the TXU Franchise Litigation authorized such assessment, was presented. Ms. Aime Richardson, with the law firm of Strasburger & Price, representing the consortium of cities, was present telling the City Council that there are some gross miscalculations in franchise fees in cities all over Texas. Ms. Richardson said their data is very clear and they are happy to share the data with anyone, but they can not really get into that much specifics at this time. She said they are aware that TXU has presented information that there was a settlement or near settlement and that is not true. Ms. Richardson said since the negotiations broke down about two weeks ago, they have twelve additional cities to join the case and they anticipate additional parties up to 65. Ms. Richardson advised that they were not in a position to give the City of Paris legal advice at this time, but once a city joins them, they will be very specific. They will be doing an audit, and what happens once they complete the auditforthe City of Paris is they will look at the numbers and if the amount that you put down at the city's inception is more than 10% of miscalculation in their audit review, they will refund the difference. Ms. Richardson said the damages go back 20 to 40 years and there is no statute of limitations on how far you can go back. Ms. Richardson said another important thing to know is that the 1998 legislative changes in SB 7 required that a lot cities under billed audit to determine what their 1998 numbers were so they can become a base line for about the next 10 to 15 years for the TXU to base their assessment upon, but Ms. Richardson stated that she thought that is probably in error. She felt that a lot of times the 1998 numbers were wrong