§ 110-371. Adjustment of fees.

(a)

Adjustments shall not be available for residential property because all such property shall be charged a flat rate fee, which is not based on the amount of impervious area for a particular parcel. For nonresidential property, requests by owners of real property for adjustment of the utility fee shall be submitted to the director, who is hereby authorized to develop and administer the procedures and standards for the adjustment of fees as established herein. All requests shall be judged on the basis of the amount of impervious area on the site. No credit shall be given for the installation of facilities required by Pasco County development codes or state stormwater rules. The following procedures shall apply to all adjustment requests of the utility fee:

(1)

Any owner who has paid his utility fee and who believes his utility fee to be incorrect may, subject to the limitations set forth in this article, submit an adjustment request to the director.

(2)

Adjustment requests for utility fees paid by an owner must be in writing and shall set forth, in detail, the grounds upon which relief is sought.

(3)

Adjustment requests must be made within 60 days after opening of the tax roll for collection and each request shall be initially be reviewed by the director within a four-month period from the date of filing of the adjustment request. Adjustments resulting from such request shall be retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year in which the owner is requesting an adjustment.

(4)

The owner requesting the adjustment may be required, at his own cost, to provide supplemental information to the director including, but not limited to, survey data approved by either a registered professional land surveyor (R.P.L.S.) and engineering reports approved by a professional engineer (P.E.). Failure to provide such information may result in the denial of the adjustment request.

(5)

Adjustments to the utility fee will be made upon the granting of the adjustment request in writing by the director. Denials of adjustment requests shall be made in writing by the director.

(b)

Consideration by the director of the owner's request for adjustment shall not relieve the owner of the obligation to make timely payment of the utility fee. In the event an adjustment is granted by the director which decreased the utility fee, the owner shall be entitled to a credit or refund as applicable of excess utility fees paid.

(c)

Upon receipt of the written denial of the adjustment request, the owner who initially requested the adjustment may, within 30 days of receipt of such denial, appeal to the board for review of the denial.

(1)

The board shall complete their review within 45 days of receipt of the request for review. The board's determination on the review shall be in writing and set forth in detail the reasons for their decision.

(2)

In reviewing denials of adjustment requests, the board shall apply the standards and review criteria contained in this article.

(d)

Any errors in the utility fee or failure to charge a utility fee may be corrected by the director within 60 days after opening of the tax roll for collection. Corrections which result in an increase in the utility fee cannot be imposed until the owner has consented in writing to the increase or has been given at least ten days' notice by certified mail and an opportunity to be heard by the board. Once the utility fee is finalized, the director shall send documentation reflecting the adjustment to the owner and the documentation will also be sent to the tax collector.

(e)

Any errors in the utility fee due to errors or corrections in the property appraiser's data found after 12 months or less from the date after opening of the tax roll for collection shall be corrected by the director within 60 days of notice from the property appraiser and the director shall send documentation reflecting the adjustment to the owner and the tax collector. If the error results in an over-assessment of the utility fee, then the over-assessment will be credited or refunded (as applicable) for the period from the previous tax certificate. If the error results in an under-assessment of the utility fee, the corrected fee will be assessed starting from the subsequent non-ad valorem assessment roll.

(Ord. No. 07-18, § B(11), 8-21-07)