On June 19, 2020, the Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District, ruled that the City of Ocala’s fire service fee was an unconstitutional tax. The City of Ocala (the “City”) imposed the illegal tax on its in-city utility customers from February 20, 2010, through July 21, 2020. Customers who paid the tax are the “Class Members”.
The City of Ocala is mailing checks.
Questions About Your Check Or Why You Have Not Received A Check?
The City is mailing refund checks to all Class Members, except those Class Members with an undeliverable address.
- Checks were mailed on or before July 15, 2022, where the City had verified mailing addresses.
- Check issuance is being handled by The Notice Company, Inc. on behalf of the City.
- If you qualify as a Class Member and you have not received your check by the end of July, or if you recently moved to a new mailing address, you should submit a Claim Form which is available here.
- If you submit a Claim Form, checks to eligible claimants will be issued within 60 days of receipt of the Claim Form.
- The deadline to submit a signed Claim Form is July 1, 2023.
How much money will be paid to Class Members?
In the First Distribution of funds, each Class Member will receive a refund that equals 91.5972% of the illegal tax collected from that Class Member since February 20, 2010, rounded down to the nearest whole cent.
- For example, if a class member paid $1,000.00 in illegal taxes, then that class member would receive a refund check of $915.97 (1,000 x 0.915972 = 915.972).
The Claims Period begins July 1, 2022, and ends on July 1, 2023.
There will be a Second Distribution of funds after July 1, 2023.
- Any refunds remaining with the City after the expiration of the claims period, i.e., after July 1, 2023, including funds from uncashed checks, will be subject to a second distribution to those Class Members who cashed their refund checks as part of the First Distribution.
- The remaining funds will be reapportioned and a pro rata distribution of up to 8.4028% of the amount said class member paid, for a maximum total of a 100% refund to each Class Member between the First and Second Distributions.
- Any refunds remaining with the City after April 30, 2024, will be applied to the City’s general fund for fire services for the benefit of the Class.
Claim Forms and instructions are available here.
Important Case Documents are available here.
August 17, 2022 Update:
The Notice Company has been inundated with thousands of inquiries. This has resulted in delayed response times.