A. Appeals. Any fee payer that is or may be obligated to pay a Fire and/or EMS impact fee, or that claims a right to receive a refund, reimbursement, exemption or credit under this chapter, and who is dissatisfied with a decision made either by the City or by the Districts’ administrators in applying this chapter, may appeal such decision as follows:
1. In the case of a decision made by the City to the City council; and
2. In the case of a decision made by the Districts’ administrators to the board of commissioners.
B. The fee payer shall have the burden on appeal of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the decision was in error.
C. In order to pursue the appeal described in this subsection, the fee payer shall file a written notice of the appeal with the City within thirty (30) days after the date of the City’s or the District administrator’s decision, or the date on which the fee payer submitted a payment of the Fire and/or EMS impact fee under protest, whichever is later. Such written application shall include a statement describing why the fee payer believes that the appealed decision was in error, together with copies of any documents that the fee payer believes support the claim.
D. Appeals of the District administrators’ decisions shall be delivered by the City to the Districts’ administrators.
E. The City Council or the Board of Commissioners, as the case may be, shall hear the appeal within sixty (60) days after receipt of a written notice of appeal. The fee payer shall have a right to be present and to present evidence in support of the appeal. The City or District administrator who made the decision under appeal or his or her representative shall likewise have the right to be present and to present evidence in support of the decision. The criteria to be used by the City Council or by the Board of Commissioners in considering the appeal shall be whether:
1. the decision or interpretation made by the City or District administrator; or
2. the alternative decision or interpretation offered by the fee payer, more accurately reflects the intent of this chapter that new development in the City pay its proportionate share of the costs of system improvements to District facilities necessary to serve new development and whether the chapter has been correctly applied.
The City Council or Board of Commissioners, as the case may be, shall issue a decision upholding, reversing, or modifying the decision being appealed within thirty (30) days after hearing the appeal.
F. Payment under protest. A fee payer may pay a Fire and/or EMS impact fee under protest in order to avoid penalty pursuant to Section 9-3-17. A fee payer making a payment under protest shall not be estopped from exercising the right to appeal provided herein, nor shall such fee payer be estopped from receiving a refund from the Districts of any amount deemed to have been illegally collected.
G. Mediation.
1. Any fee payer that has a disagreement with the City or the District administrator regarding a Fire and/or EMS impact fee determination that is or may be due for a proposed development pursuant to this chapter, may enter into a voluntary agreement with the City and the District(s), as the case may be, to subject the disagreement to mediation by a qualified independent party acceptable to both the fee payer and the Districts.
2. Mediation may take place at any time following the filing of a timely appeal pursuant to section 9-3-13(C), or as an alternative to such appeal, provided that the request for mediation is filed no later than the last date on which a timely appeal could be filed pursuant to section 19-3-13(C).
3. Participation in mediation does not preclude the fee payer from pursuing other remedies provided for in this section.
4. If mediation is requested, any related mediation costs shall be shared equally by the fee payer and the Districts, as the case may be, and a written agreement between the fee payer and the Districts regarding the payment of such costs shall be executed prior to the commencement of mediation.
5. In the event that mediation does not resolve the issues between the Districts and the fee payer, the fee payer retains all rights to seek relief from a court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 637, 8-23-2022)