Opinion ID: 2294280
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Class Certification, A Statute Of Limitations Challenge, A Request For Remand, And A Second Appeal

Text: Finding that the case satisfied all of the Maryland Rule 2-231 criteria, the Circuit Court conditionally certified it as a class action on February 26, 2003. On October 23, 2003, the Circuit Court ruled on cross-motions for summary judgment. The County argued that the Owners' assumpsit claims for fees collected in FYs 1988 through 1991 were barred by the three-year statute of limitations in Md.Code (1974, 2006 Repl.Vol., 2008 Supp.), Section 5-101 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (CJP). The County maintained that the Owners, by filing suit in February 2001, did not meet the standard for reasonably prudent investigation because the `information as to the [impact fee ordinance's] revenues and expenditures are public records[.]' The court disagreed with the County's inquiry notice argument, finding that it exceeds a `reasonable person' standard to require that taxpayers initiate public records requests promptly whenever a statutory deadline approaches that might entitle them to a refund. The court considered this particularly true in light of an evidentiary presumption that officials perform their duties with regularity and the impact fee ordinance's requirement that the County provide public notice of refundable fees. It then concluded that [i]n the absence of any other evidence proffered which would have put [the Owners] on notice, [it] will deny the motion for summary judgment on this limitations basis. The Circuit Court, on December 8, 2003, ruled on one of the County's extension decisions and concluded that it was ineffective because the PZO failed to make explicit reference to any specific property that would be directly benefitted by the planned capital improvement. In the wake of this decision which, by implication, rendered invalid the County's other extension decisions, the County filed another motion to dismiss, requesting that the court remand the case to the PZO for new extension decisions under the correct legal standard. Relying on Frankel, the County contended that dismissal was warranted because the Owners' assumpsit claim was premature until the PZO rendered administrative decisions under the correct standard. The Circuit Court denied the County's motion on October 4, 2004, concluding (1) that the COSA had already decided in the first appeal that the impact fee ordinance did not provide an administrative remedy and that an action in assumpsit was available and (2) that the Owners became vested with a contingent property right to receive a refund under the statute when the County failed to timely and effectively extend the time for expending or encumbering the collected fees. On December 30, 2004, the Circuit Court ordered the County to identify the members of the class for the purpose of providing notice as required by Maryland Rule 2-231(e). By its order, the court rejected the County's request that it be permitted to advertise belatedly by publication the availability of impact fee refunds as contemplated by AACC, Section 17-11-210(b). The County argued that maintaining the class action [was] not a superior mechanism in which to proceed in this case as proper notice of the impact fee refunds would benefit all property owners in the affected districts [in] `that a class action seeking to compel the payment of a governmental benefit is not ripe until the [Owners] have followed the statutory procedure to receive benefits.' The court declined the County's invitation to dismiss the action on this basis. The County appealed the December 30 order (Appeal II), arguing that it was error for the court to order the County to bear the expense of (1) providing class notice and (2) compiling the list of class members. The COSA reviewed the order under the collateral order rule and affirmed, reasoning that any difficulty and expense the County may face in identifying and notifying class members due to its record-keeping practices should be borne by the County. Anne Arundel County v. Cambridge Commons, 167 Md.App. 219, 231, 235-36, 892 A.2d 593, 600, 603 (2005), cert. denied, 393 Md. 242, 900 A.2d 749 (2006).