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Lawsuit against fire district thrown out

Residents who filed the suit were upset over an increased fire tax passed in 2003, but they didn't challenge the tax in time.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published January 29, 2006

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - A lawsuit filed by residents challenging the legality of how the Pinellas Suncoast Fire District levies fire taxes has been thrown out of court.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nelly Khouzam told attorneys for the fire district and the residents Wednesday she has ruled in favor of the fire district's motion for a summary judgment.

The attorneys were asked to prepare the ruling and submit it for formal signature, fire district attorney Maggie Mooney said. "The judge said she is ruling for our motion," Mooney said. "We argued that the court did not have jurisdiction under Florida law." The fire district argued that the five residents who filed the lawsuit did not protest their fire tax when it was first levied. Under state law, a challenge to a tax must be made within 60 days of certification of the tax role. That was not done.

"They can't cry foul now if they didn't follow the necessary procedures," Mooney said.

The lawsuit asked the court to declare that special assessment levied for the 2004 tax year invalid and unconstitutional and to prevent the district from continuing to assess the fire tax. In addition, each of the residents in the lawsuit were to be reimbursed the difference between the $190 levy approved by voters in 2003 and the previous $70 tax.

At the time, the fire district said it needed the extra tax revenues to remain solvent.

An effort in 2004 to again increase the fire tax, by changing the way it was computed, was fought by beach officials and defeated at the polls. That political fight led directly to the Indian Rocks Beach commission decision to ask resident volunteers to sue the fire district. The city paid the legal tab.

The lawsuit was filed before the referendum election on behalf of then-Vice Mayor Bill Ockunzzi (now mayor), Commissioner Jim Palamara, and residents Albert Valery, Ed Pinero and Patricia Muneio.

"This is not for personal gain," said Pinero, a former fire commissioner. "This is to correct an injustice to all the taxpayers on Indian Rocks Beach."

Mooney said the judge's decision means the lawsuit cannot be refiled. The formal ruling is not expected until at least next week.

It also means, Mooney said, that there will be no trial and that, unless the residents decide to appeal, the legal battle is over.

Since the lawsuit was filed in 2004, the fire district has spent more than $100,000 defending the action, while Indian Rocks Beach, which financed the residents' lawsuit, has spent about $17,000.

"The case will be over with unless you decide to appeal the decision," attorney Tom Trask told the Indian Rocks Beach commission last week.

Since then, he has polled the five residents named in the suit and at least four have said they do not want to appeal, Ockunzzi said.

"We lost on technicalities. This means we don't get a ruling on the merits of the case," Ockunzzi said. "It's unfortunate, but the lawsuit served its purpose. It was a major catalyst in getting the Oversight Review Board created, and has already uncovered issues that need to be resolved."

Indian Rocks Beach has joined other beach communities (Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore and Indian Shores) and Pinellas County in an extensive examination of the fire district's operations and finances.

A consultant is near completion of a report on the district. Once that is received, the Oversight Review Board will make recommendations concerning the future of the fire district. Those recommendations will be sent to the Legislature, which created the district in the 1950s.

Beach community officials contend that the district is mismanaging its money and spending district taxpayer dollars for services outside the district boundaries. The district includes the four beach communities and a large unincorporated area south of Walsingham Road.

In a surprise move, the fire district - which has consistently denied it is mismanaging tax revenues - recently asked the county to consider taking over the district's operations. A proposed referendum to again increase fire taxes has been delayed at least until fall.

Still at issue is whether, as the winning side, the fire district will try to get the city to pay for its legal expenses.

[Last modified January 29, 2006, 01:27:17]