captstanm1
07-26-2005, 04:58 PM
St. Petersburg Times
2 cities ask dismissal of fire suit
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published July 13, 2005
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LEALMAN - Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg have asked that a judge dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to have the two cities pay the Lealman Fire District almost $300,000.
The Lealman Fire Commission sued the two cities in May, alleging that both annexed property worth millions from the fire district but that neither city assumed responsibility for first-response fire service to those lands.
But Pinellas Park spokesman Tim Caddell said this week that the lawsuit was without merit. "We don't intend to pay it," he said.
That stance did not surprise Lealman fire officials.
"Our attorney said this would happen," Lealman fire Chief Rick Graham said. "I guess that's pretty standard."
An Aug. 23 hearing is scheduled on the motion, Graham said. If a judge declines to dismiss the suit, he could force the parties to negotiate or send the case to trial.
Annexations by St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park left Lealman as first responder to fire calls in those areas, but without the tax money to pay for their services. And, according to the fire commissioners' reading of state law, both cities should pay the district for providing first response service to those annexed properties.
Annexations and the tax monies lost in them have long been a touchy issue for the unincorporated Lealman area. Local activists and fire officials have lobbied the county and state officials for changes to annexation laws that would protect the district from repeated annexations.
The effect, they have argued, is to take tax money out of the district while leaving the burden of service on residents, who are some of the poorest in Pinellas County. The result, the activists say, is one of the highest fire taxes in the county.
This year, fire commissioners decided to act rather than talk. They sent demand letters to Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and Seminole threatening to sue unless those cities returned about $1.5-million in property taxes gained through annexations.
Seminole evaded the suit because its annexation of the tax-rich commercial area on the west side of Park Street happened just days before a state law changed that required notice of the annexations.
Likewise, St. Petersburg lowered the amount the district says it owes by showing some of its annexations also occurred before the law changed.
[Last modified July 13, 2005, 00:09:17]
2 cities ask dismissal of fire suit
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published July 13, 2005
--------------------------------
LEALMAN - Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg have asked that a judge dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to have the two cities pay the Lealman Fire District almost $300,000.
The Lealman Fire Commission sued the two cities in May, alleging that both annexed property worth millions from the fire district but that neither city assumed responsibility for first-response fire service to those lands.
But Pinellas Park spokesman Tim Caddell said this week that the lawsuit was without merit. "We don't intend to pay it," he said.
That stance did not surprise Lealman fire officials.
"Our attorney said this would happen," Lealman fire Chief Rick Graham said. "I guess that's pretty standard."
An Aug. 23 hearing is scheduled on the motion, Graham said. If a judge declines to dismiss the suit, he could force the parties to negotiate or send the case to trial.
Annexations by St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park left Lealman as first responder to fire calls in those areas, but without the tax money to pay for their services. And, according to the fire commissioners' reading of state law, both cities should pay the district for providing first response service to those annexed properties.
Annexations and the tax monies lost in them have long been a touchy issue for the unincorporated Lealman area. Local activists and fire officials have lobbied the county and state officials for changes to annexation laws that would protect the district from repeated annexations.
The effect, they have argued, is to take tax money out of the district while leaving the burden of service on residents, who are some of the poorest in Pinellas County. The result, the activists say, is one of the highest fire taxes in the county.
This year, fire commissioners decided to act rather than talk. They sent demand letters to Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and Seminole threatening to sue unless those cities returned about $1.5-million in property taxes gained through annexations.
Seminole evaded the suit because its annexation of the tax-rich commercial area on the west side of Park Street happened just days before a state law changed that required notice of the annexations.
Likewise, St. Petersburg lowered the amount the district says it owes by showing some of its annexations also occurred before the law changed.
[Last modified July 13, 2005, 00:09:17]