A prominent Davie family has sued over the town’s new emergency medical services fee, accusing town leaders of violating a 1985 agreement that exempts the family’s land from assessments.
A lawsuit filed in Circuit Court on Sept. 24 says the fee breaches a court settlement reached by the Forman family and town officials 11 years ago, when Davie annexed about 200 acres of the Formans’ industrial property into the northeastern part of the town.
Under the agreement, the Formans dropped their opposition to the annexation. In return, the town promised to provide the land with fire protection and other municipal services “without any special assessment surcharges or other special exactations or taxes.”
In September, the Town Council passed an EMS charge to pay for a recently hired private fire-rescue service.
Homeowners will pay about $38 annually for the service. But commercial property owners, like the Formans, will be assessed according to projected service needs and square footage. Some of the annual assessments for non-residential owners could exceed $5,000.
The Formans’ attorney, Mitchell Berger, said the 1985 agreement exempts them from paying the fee.
“The issue is an interpretation of the settlement of the 1985 lawsuit,” Berger said. “We think the language covers this assessment – it’s pretty self-explanatory.”
Town leaders say the exemption applies only to limited special assessments and not to more general ones levied against all Davie property owners.
“The subject matter of the lawsuit is whether the [exemption) in the 1985 settlement applies to specific assessments or assessments that are town-wide,” Town Manager Robert Flatley said. “The judge will determine that.”
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Formans and more than two dozen of the family’s trusts and businesses, asks that the town be forbidden from collecting the assessment and forced to pay the Formans’ legal fees. A hearing on the matter is expected in November.
Controversy has surrounded the EMS fee since its passage last month. Church and not-for-profit groups protested when property they owned was not exempted from the fee.
