MUSTANG, Tx. - This small town of about 40 people is hoping a local strip club and bar will soon reopen so sales taxes can be collected from them and used to pay the tiny hamlet’s growing water bill.
Town officials told CBS5 that without a property tax or residential water fees, the town of Mustang has had to rely on sales tax collected from the only two businesses in the community – a strip club and a bar – to pay the town’s water bill.
But a lawsuit stemming from the sale of the town last year has forced the closing of both establishments, leaving residents with a $3,400 water bill.
Community officials organized a Halloween haunted trail fundraiser in last month, but it raised just a few hundred dollars.
Thomas Sinclair, who runs the local strip club and bar, acquired the town last year from its late co-founder, Willie McKie. But just months later, both sides began squabbling over alleged breaches of contract that soon led to lawsuits.
Sinclair said he hopes the case will be resolved so he can reopen the bar and strip club, which were forced to temporarily close by a court order in January.
In the interim, he has continued to pay the $500 water fees for the businesses, but town officials say that’s not enough to cover the water bills.
At the same time, Willie McKie’s widow, Marsha McKie, said she can’t afford to cover the difference. She had been paying more than $1,000 a month toward the town’s water bill.
