by Hannah Dankbar
Town of Hoard v Clark County
Wisconsin Court of Appeals, November 12, 2015
The Town of Hoard is located in Clark County. The County operates a medical center within the town. The issue in this case is whether an ordinance that imposes an annual charge on property owners to cover the cost of fire protection is legal (Town of Hoard Ordinance No. 091113). In 2014 Hoard charged Clark County $3,327.68 for fire protection of the medical center. The County did not pay the charge. Hoard sued the County for not paying and was granted summary judgment. The County appealed.
Under the 2013 ordinance Hoard uses a formula to determine the annual charge for fire protection. The charge is based on the property’s use and square footage to calculate the “domestic user equivalent” (DUE). The medical center was assigned 1.5 DUE units per 1,000 square feet. Hoard divides its annual contribution to the fire district that they share with other communities by the number of DUE units to determine a dollar amount per DUE unit. This dollar amount determines the charge for each property owner.
Hoard argued that Wis. Stat. §60.55(2)(b) allows them to set “a fee on property owners in the Town for the cost of fire protection, as set according to a written schedule that was adopted by the town board.” The pre-1988 version of the statute allowed a town to charge for the cost of “fire calls made to the property”, but the new statute broadened the ability of a town to charge for fire protection to all properties who are protected.
The County argued: (1) the charge to the County under the ordinance is a tax, not a fee, which the County is exempt from under state law, or alternatively (2) if the charge is a fee, the ordinance is not valid under state law because the statute only allows fees for fire protection services that are actually provided. Because the medical center did not receive any services (i.e., no fire calls) they should not have to pay the fee.
There is a distinct difference between a fee and a tax. A tax is to gather revenue for the government. A fee is to cover the expense of providing a service, regulation or supervision. In this case, the charge is to cover the expense of providing fire protection, so it is a fee.
Regarding the second argument, the Court determined that “providing” fire protection services includes joining with other municipalities to create and operate the fire district. The court determined that the medical center was “provided” fire protection from the Town.
The judgment of the lower court was affirmed.
