Ocala’s processing of fire fee refunds leaves questions

File photo: Jason Zimmerman, an attorney for the City of Ocala, questions a witness on the witness stand during the $80 million City of Ocala Fire Fee lawsuit hearing at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. About 100 concerned citizens packed courtroom 1 for the final hearing of the lawsuit at the courthouse. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

With the deadline fast approaching for Ocala Electric Utility customers to receive and cash court-ordered refund checks for illegally assessed fire service fees, attorneys for Ocala and the customers have agreed to pause a provision of the agreement calling for any uncollected refunds to revert to the city.

According to a May 2022 court order, refund checks totaling almost $80 million in illegal taxes collected by Ocala need to be cashed by April 30, 2024 or the funds will stay with the city. As previously reported by the “Gazette,’’ city records show as of December 2023, almost 18,000 people had not cashed refund checks totaling more than $7 million.

A March 11, 2024 temporary court order approving the parties’ stipulation was entered allowing those who paid the fire fee tax in their utility bills from Feb. 20, 2010 through 2021 time to contact the city. Those eligible for a refund should direct their claim to [email protected] or by phone at (352) 629-2489.

During an Ocala City Council meeting in March, City Manager Pete Lee told the council he expected by the end of March to have issued checks on all the remaining claims so that the matter could be concluded.

City Attorney William Sexton said city staff had reviewed all returned mail against national address databases to ensure that the city was directing the checks to the correct account holder.

After Sexton told the “Gazette” the city had no duty to notify the 18,0000 customers about their uncollected refunds, at the end of December the “Gazette’’ published the names of those persons with uncashed checks who were owed more than $100.

Sexton continues to insist the city has no duty to notify account holders of refund checks that were not cashed. He assured the “Gazette,” however, the city would not turn away claimants who came forward after the April 30 deadline.

But the city will not reach out to those customers they believe received a check but did not cash it.

For example, city records indicate Ocala sent the Marion County Sheriff’s Office a check for $143,236.60. As of April 5, the check had not been reissued despite the fact that MCSO put in a claim on Dec. 27 after the “Gazette” alerted the agency to the issue.

That same list indicated Meadowbrook Church was sent a check for $66,222.29 that was not yet cashed. We reached to out Meadowbrook Church and helped them claim their refund. They had no idea they has allegedly not cashed a refund check.

The “Gazette” last week received a revised list of outstanding refunds. It had numerous accounts the newspaper was able to contact and ask if they intended to forfeit their refund. Some said they had submitted claims and were waiting on their check.

However, Sexton told the “Gazette” there was no list of pending claims because they had all been paid.

The “Gazette” has followed up with many accounts on the list, some of which are prominently known, to ask if they were intentionally forfeiting the refund to the city and the answer was universally, “No.”

Transcripts of closed-door meetings involving the Ocala City Council released after the 2022 final judgment reflect that the city attorneys at the time repeatedly assured council  that even if they did not prevail, damages would be significantly reduced because not all of the claimants would seek their refunds.

Then-City Attorney Robert Batsel said limiting the customers to a 30- to 60-day window to apply would mean fewer people would meet the deadline. Another attorney told council members the notices to citizens about their refunds would be confusing to some. That intended confusion, combined with a narrow claims period, would mean a lower payout for Ocala.

“We want people to ignore the mailings,” Jason Zimmerman with Gray Robinson told the council in an Oct. 15, 2021 meeting. “We want the mailings to be confusing and, you know, not exactly explain what’s going on.”