FLINT -- Flint residents are now on the hook for more than $8 million dollars, now that the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the City of Flint to purchase the aging and deserted Genesee Towers downtown. 

The decision was announced by Mayor Dayne Walling in a press conference Tuesday afternoon at city hall.  The case stemmed from a contract dispute between the owner of the property, and the city-then led by Mayor Don Williamson in 2004. 

The court decided “Mayor Don Williamson affectively agreed to pay the owner of the Genesee Towers building $4.9 million” in 2004, said city attorney Peter Bade while discussing the case.  Legal fees and other costs bring that total to more than $8 million.  That cost could come to every homeowner, facing an average $150 increase to their property tax payments.

The property was purchased by Kumar Vemullapalli in the late 1990s. 

Current Mayor Dayne Walling blasted past administrations, and in particular former Mayor Don Williamson for questionable dealings with the Towers property.  “Don Williamson decided to take this building and now all of us have to pay,” he said. 

However in a phone interview with NBC25, Williamson said his administration never tried to purchase the property.  He said they only paid for maintenance and safety measures such as barriers around the facility so parts of it don’t crumble down on people below.  He also said he did not remember much about the specifics of the property.

Meanwhile homeowners could see the tax increase on their December bills.