(a) Any user of municipal services who feels aggrieved by any charge made pursuant to this article may protest the same by filing written notice of such protest with the Director setting forth his or her objections thereto and making payment under protest of the assessed amount. The Director shall review such user's grounds for protest, render a decision on the protest and forthwith notify the user of such decision in writing within 15 days of the filing of the protest. If the user is not satisfied by the Director's decision or is still aggrieved, he or she may petition the Judge of the Municipal Court for review of the Director's decision.
(b) The petition for review must be filed with the Municipal Court Clerk on or before 3:00 p.m. prevailing time within 25 days of the date of the mailing of the Director's decision. If the 25th day shall fall on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the filing period shall be extended to 3:00 p.m. prevailing time on the next regular business day. The petition for review must be in writing and be verified under oath by the petitioner. The petition for review must set forth with particularity the portions of the Director's decision objected to or contested and the petition for review must further state the reasons for each objection or contested fact. Fairness and equity shall not be issues. The petition for review must state an address of the petitioner for purposes of service of all papers and hearing notices. The petition for review must set out a copy of the Director's decision or have a copy of said decision attached thereto.
Upon the timely filing of a petition for review, timeliness being jurisdictional, the Municipal Court Clerk shall assign the petition for review a case number.
The petitioner, at the time of filing the petition for review, must serve a copy of the petition for review upon the Director.
The Director shall have twenty (20) days from the date of receipt of the petition for review to file an answer with the Municipal Court Clerk stating the nature of the case, the facts relied upon by the Director and an answer to each issue presented for review. The Finance Director shall serve a copy of the answer upon the petitioner.
Upon receipt of the answer, the Municipal Court Clerk shall assign a time and place for a hearing before the Judge of the Municipal Court and shall provide written notice of the hearing to the Director and to the petitioner at the address provided in the petition for review.
The hearing before the Judge of the Municipal Court is heard de novo, however, fairness and equity shall not be issues. The burden of proof shall be on the petitioner. The decisions of the Judge of the Municipal Court shall be in writing and contain a statement of findings of material fact and conclusions of law. The Judge of the Municipal Court has authority to affirm, reverse, modify, or vacate the decision of the Director. All decisions of the Judge of the Municipal Court must be issued within a reasonable time, not to exceed thirty (30) days from the close of the hearing. Unless a timely appeal is taken to the Circuit Court of Marion County, the decision of the Judge of the Municipal Court shall be final and conclusive and not subject to additional review.
(c) Either party may petition for appeal of the decision of the Judge of the Municipal Court to the Circuit Court of Marion County, West Virginia as provided by law.
(Ord. 1812. Passed 5-14-19.)