Court says biz owners can sue over fire fees Businesses say they are paying triple fees BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer HAZLET- Township business owners have won a round in their fight against what they say is a triple tax for fire prevention fees now that a court has upheld their right to pursue litigation against the municipality. Superior Court Judge Jamie S. Perri issued an order March 14 upholding the right of the Hazlet Business Owners Association (HBOA) to pursue a lawsuit against Hazlet Township and the Hazlet Township Board of Fire Commissioners. The proposed lawsuit relates to a longstanding dispute involving fire prevention fees paid by business owners. Hazlet Business Owners Association President John Conti has said that the triple taxes stem from a fire prevention fee included as a line item in businesses' property tax bill. Businesses also pay an additional annual fire prevention fee based on square footage of their building and an annual fire inspection fee as well. He said that these fees are not in line with fees charged in other communities in Monmouth County. According to the John P. Nulty Jr., HBOA's attorney, the association now has to wait six months before filing litigation. He said HBOA maintains that the fire prevention fees were improperly charged at rates higher than allowed by ordinance and were assessed to businesses that were exempt from these charges. The association filed a notice of tort claim so that it could seek legal redress against the municipality and the court ruled that HBOA has that right. Under the current ordinance, if business premises are 500 to 2,500 square feet, its owner will pay $50 plus an additional $2.50 per square foot as the fee for fire prevention services like inspections. Since the code was originally adopted in 1993, owners of stores under 500 square feet who were supposed to be exempt were still being taxed. In 2007, the Township Committee renewed the ordinance and eliminated the charge to businesses occupying less than 500 square feet. The money from the fees is used to fund fire prevention classes for students in schools, hospitalization fees for injured firefighters and other needs of the fire department. Perri agreed with Nulty, stating it would have been inequitable to bar the suit primarily because the township and fire commissioners had been made aware of HBOA's complaints and had avoided legal action by promising to address the concerns, but ultimately failing to take any corrective action. "They met with the mayor, the deputy mayor and members of the fire commissioners and made their complaints," Nulty said. "They listened that there are potential lawsuits, but they didn't take any legal action because they were told that they would work something out." Nulty said that when October 2007 came around and the ordinance was approved, HBOA went into action. Since the HBOA tried to work out the matter with the township, the time to file a complaint had elapsed and therefore the association had to file for an extension. Nulty said that since the complaint was filed late, the business group can only recover monies from 2007 fees if the courts rule in the HBOA's favor. "Now we just have to wait six months," Nulty said. "We'll see what happens."