Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Builders association threatens lawsuit over use of fire district's impact fees

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:30:28 -0400

Builders association threatens lawsuit over use of fire district's impact fees

Friday, October 10, 2003

By MIREIDY FERNANDEZ, [email-masked]
Attorneys for the North Naples Fire District are being challenged in their legal
interpretation of the use of department impact fees to purchase emergency radios.

And the fire district could be slapped with a lawsuit if the issue is not resolved.
The Collier Building Industry Association is questioning the district about the legal
opinions submitted by the East Naples law firm of Cardillo, Keith & Bonaquist earlier
this year.

The CBIA is the local watchdog group for the construction industry.

The group's board of directors wants answers about the nearly $300,000 from impact
fees the district spent during a five-year period to buy replacement radios.

At issue is whether the district improperly used impact fee money to purchase 800-MHz
emergency hand-held radios to replace an older system.

CBIA Executive Director David Ellis said the goal behind the legal notice is clear.
"We want to get to the bottom of the expenditures and make sure they are appropriate,"
he said. "Our goal is to set a time frame and hear back from the district. We'd like
to meet with them."
Richard Yovanovich with the Naples legal firm of Goodlette Coleman & Johnson
represents the CBIA. He sent a Sept. 24 letter to the district stating his
disagreement with Cardillo's legal determination surrounding the use of impact fees.
John Cardillo, the lawyer for the fire district, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

The CBIA is giving the district 60 days to respond to the notice. Failure to do so
could result in legal action against the district.
Yovanovich said Thursday that neither the district nor its legal representative had
contacted him about the issue.
"One option is to bring a lawsuit" if the issue is not resolved, he said.
In July, the five-member board of North Naples fire commissioners reviewed purchases
made from the district's impact fee account.

Commissioners determined that during a five-year period more than $200,000 in
purchases either were improper, questionable or lacked proper documentation.
Commissioners agreed to reimburse the impact fee fund by $210,823.94 with money from
the district's general operating account.

Under Florida law, money from impact fees is solely intended to pay for items
associated with growth and not to replace equipment. Impact fees are one-time charges
assessed on newly developed property.

At the time, Cardillo's firm determined that the radio purchases from impact fees were
permissible.
Yovanovich, in his letter, said that the way in which certain impact fees were used by
the district may have been a violation of state law.

"We disagree with the conclusions reached by Cardillo, Keith & Bonaquist as to the
legality of several expenditures of impact fees," Yovanovich wrote. "We have reviewed
the expenditures ... and believe that there were numerous assets that were purchases
solely through the use of impact fees and the purchase ... in that manner constitutes
violation of Florida law."
Instead, the district should have used money from elsewhere to buy the radios, he
argued.
Fire District Finance Director Becky Pogan said Yovanovich's letter has been forwarded
to Cardillo for review. No determination has been made as to how to proceed with the
issue, she said.
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/10/naples/e29900a.htm

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