Following a 1996 Klan rally in Ann Arbor, Mich., the city billed both the Klan and an anti-Klan organization $72,000 for the cost of security. The city never started collection action but hasn't ruled out the possibility, city attorney Abigail Elias said.

Ann Arbor city officials recently sent out two hefty bills - for $36,000 each. One unhappy recipient, the Ku Klux Klan, said it intends to reply by slapping the city with a lawsuit. The National Women's Rights Organizing Coalition will be protesting at the next City Council meeting. The KKK is also suing the city for $1.6 million in related damages in an independent suit. The bills were sent to the KKK and NWROC requesting reimbursement for $72,000 the city spent in relation to policing efforts at a June 22 Klan rally and the coinciding anti-Klan rally held at the Guy C. Larcom Municipal Building. "I ultimately made the decision after consulting with the city attorney," City Administrator Neil Berlin said yesterday. "(The billing) has nothing to do with what (the groups) said. It has to do with actions."

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