Homeowner sues Youngstown for $68M in utility dispute

YOUNGSTOWN — George Hauman has paid far less in utility bills in the past six years than the average city resident.

Until recently, he said he only paid for sewer service at his Hilton Avenue home, where he’s lived since 2013. The rest of the necessities – electric, water, heat – he provided himself by installing solar panels, a rainwater collection system and an on-demand water heater.

“I’m basically living off the grid,” Hauman told The Vindicator outside his small, customized South Side abode.

But two years ago the city’s code department “red-tagged” his home twice and fined him for failing to keep city electricity and water – though he said he’d been living self-sufficient for about four years. Hauman only started paying for city water last year, under threat of arrest by city police officers for technically trespassing past code enforcers’ 30-day deadline to leave – for which an appeal was pending – he said.

Now he’s suing the city in federal court for a total $68 million, claiming city code enforcers trampled his civil rights by attempting to force him out of the home.

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com