litigator who is known for his diligent and hands-on approach to the practice of law. For more than twenty years, he has helped clients in Orange County and Greater Los Angeles overcome legal challenges and achieve their goals. Property owners subject to fee assessments and public agencies imposing fee assessments may be impacted by the recent decision in Walker v. City of San Clemente (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 1350.
In Walker, the city was required to refund $10.5 million in unused impact fees to the owner of a beach parking lot. The city was found to have violated the Mitigation Fee Act, Government Code § 66000 et seq., by failing to make new findings every five years to justify continued retention of the unused fees.
The moral of this story for property owners is to check every few years whether new findings have been made to justify the assessment and demand a refund once the five year interval has passed without new findings. The moral of the story for municipal entities is to make proper findings every five years or risk loss of the assessment revenues.
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