Appeals Court Rejects County Arguments in Regards to Fire Protection
Monday, November 23rd, 2015 -- 1:40 PM
(Jonathan Anderson, News Herald Media) -An appeals court has ruled that Clark County must pay the town of Hoard for fire protection, marking the second time that judges have rejected the county's arguments and legal fees in the case rise to nearly 10 times the amount of money originally under dispute.According to the Marshfield News Herald, earlier this month, the state District 4 Court of Appeals in Madison sided with the town in a lawsuit that it filed last year against Clark County. At issue is a fee the town assesses to fund a state mandate that it provide fire protection to properties within its boundaries. The town uses fee revenue to pay its share of a regional fire district that also includes the city of Owen; the villages of Withee and Curtiss; and the towns of Hixon, Longwood and Green Grove.
Clark County asserted the town could not assess the fire-protection fee on the county's rehabilitation center, which provides care for the developmentally disabled, mentally ill and elderly. So the town took the county to court, seeking an order that it pay $3,300. Clark County Circuit Judge Jon Counsell ruled in favor of the town in February, and the county appealed that ruling. The appeals court issued an answer last week: The town, the court said, can impose a fire-protection fee on the county.
Total legal fees in the case have surpassed $32,000 ? roughly 10 times the tax bill at issue, according to documents released to News-Herald Media under the state's open records law. The Clark County Board could ask the state Supreme Court to take up the case.
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