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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA - 11042008 - C.14 AMENDED CLAIM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BOARD ACTION: NOVEMBER 04, 2008 Claim Against the County, or District Governed by ) the Board of Supervisors, Routing Endorsements, NOTICE TO CLAIMANT and Board Action. All Section references are to The copy of this document mailed to California Government Codes. ou is your notice of the action taken D 6ga� your claim by the Board of FISCAL YEAR 2007-2008 pervisors. (Paragraph IV below), SEP. 2 9 2009 even your to Government Code AMOUNT: UNKNOWN Section 913 and 915.4. Please note all CITY OF MARTINEZ COUNTY CALIF,, "Warnings'. CLAIMANT: BY: JEFFREY WALTER City Attorney ATTORNEY: JEFFREY WALTER DATE RECEIVED: SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 CITY OF MARTINEZ ADDRESS: 670 W. NAPA ST. . . STE. F BY DELIVERY TO CLERK ON: SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 SONOMA, CA 95476 POSTMARKED UNKNOWN BY MAIL POSTMARKED: FROM: Clerk of the Board of Supervisors TO: County Counsel Attached is a copy of the above-noted claim. SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 DAVID TWA, Cler Dated: By: Deputy II. FROM: County Counsel TO: Clerk of the Board of Su rvisors This claim complies substantially with Sections 910 and 910.2. This Claim FAILS to comply substantially with Sections 910 and 910.2, and we are so notifying claimant. The Board cannot act for 15 days (Section 910.8). ( ) Claim is not timely filed. The Clerk should return claim on ground that it was filed late and send warning of claimant's right to apply for leave to present a late claim (Section 911.3). O Other: l '' 11 Dated: 2ba i V W B . e u y C Counsel III. FROM: Clerk of the Board TO: County Counsel (1) County Administrator (2) O Claim was returned as untimely with notice to claimant(Section 911.3). IV OARD ORDER: By unanimous vote of the Supervisors present: ( This Claim is rejected in full. ( ) Other: I certify that this is a true and correct copy of the Board's Order entered in its minutes for this date. Dateda !/. D - e2isddDAVID TWA, CLERK, By: e,4a.-64��eputy Clerk WARNING (Gov. code section 913) Subject to certain exceptions,you have only six(6)months from the date this notice was personally served or deposited in the mail to file a court action on this claim.See Government Code Section 945.6.You may seek the advice of an attorney of your choice in connection with this matter. If you want to consult an attorney,you should do so immediately. *For Additional Warning See Reverse Side of This Notice. AFFIDAVIT OF MAILING I declare under penalty of perjury that I am now, and at all times herein mentioned, have been a citizen of the United States, over age 18; and that today I deposited in the United States Postal Service in Martinez, California, postage fully prepaid a certified copy of this Board Order and Notice to✓Claimant, addressed to the claimant as shown above. Datedlyy�. DAVID TWA, CLERK By uty Clerk i 1 This warning does"notapply to claims which are not subject fo the California Tort Claims Act such as actions in.inverse condemnation, actions for specific relief`such as,mandamus or injunction, or Federal,Civil Rights claims. The above list is not exhaustive and legal consultation is essential to understand all the separate limitations periods;_ 46t may apply. The limitations period within which suit must be filed may be shorter or longer depending on the nature of the claim. Consult the specific statutes and cases applicable to your particular claim. The County of Contra Costa does not waive any of its rights under California Tort Claims Act nor does it waive rights under the statutes of 1 - -limitations applicable to actions not subject to the California Tort Claims Act 'a a. • LAW OFFICES WALTER & PISTOLE AN ASSOCIATION, INCLUDING A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 670 WEST NAPA STREET, SUITE "F" SONOMA, CA 95476 (707) 996-9690 JEFFREY A.WALTER- FACSIMILE NO: (707) 996-9603 VERONICA A.F. NEBB VALERIE PISTOLE E-MAIL: WALTERPQa WALTERPISTOLE.COM JOHN A. ABACI A PAOFEFSIONAL CONPORATION OF COUNSEL HOWARD L. STERN August 15, 2008 Y M b 4 i„J i Mr. John Cullen Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 7008 j Contra Costa Count - --- - :-- I 951 Pine Street Martinez, CA 94553 Re: Amended Claim For Overcharge for Property Tax Administration Fee 2007/2008 Fiscal Year Dear Mr. Cullen: The City of Martinez is in receipt of your Notice To Claimant of Late File Claim dated May 16, 2008 ("Notice"). The Notice states that the City's only recourse is to apply without delay to the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County for leave to present a late claim. The Notice.is accompanied by a document entitled Claim Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County signed by M. Cooper and dated May 15, 2008 which appears to contain additional information from County Counsel stating that "Claims for money collected are late and claims for proposed charges are premature." We presume that the "proposed charges" referred to; relate to the property tax administration fees for the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year. As explained further below, please consider this correspondence a revised courtesy "claim” addressing the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year. The City will submit a revised courtesy "claim" for the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year by separate correspondence. The City of Martinez filed a "claim" for overcharge of the property tax administration fee for both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 Fiscal Years on April 29, 2008, signed by City Manager, Don Blubaugh. That "claim" was submitted to the County as a courtesy. As you are no doubt aware, the City is exempt from the claims- filing requirements of the Government Claims Act pursuant to Government Code §905(i). Your Notice refers only to the Government Code and does not reference any local claims ordinance adopted by the County. In addition, our research indicates that no local claims ordinance is in existence. If there is any applicable local claim filing requirement of which we are unaware, please provide us a copy of same as soon as possible. Mr. John Cullen September 25, 2008 Page 2 AMENDED CLAIM Notwithstanding the fact that it is clear that the City need not file a claim with the County prior to the institution of any litigation, in the interest of clarity the City of Martinez hereby amends its previously submitted courtesy "claim" to include separately the overcharge of property tax administration fees for the 2007-2008 fiscal year and by separate letter the overcharge of property tax administration fees for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. This amended courtesy "claim" is submitted on behalf of the City of Martinez. Notices regarding same should be sent to: Jeffrey Walter, City Attorney City of Martinez 670 W. Napa St. Suite F Sonoma CA, 95476 Ph: 707-996-9660 Fax: 707-996-9603 As stated in the City's April 29th letter, the County of Contra Costa has charged the City of Martinez property tax administration fees in excess of that permitted by Revenue and Taxation Code section 97.75. Section 97.75 states that for fiscal years 2006/07 and thereafter, the County may charge a fee for the service mandated by Revenue and Taxation Code sections 97.68 and 97.70, but that fee shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the services. By including the triple flip and VLF swap funds in its calculations of administrative cost share instead of calculating the actual incremental service costs to administer the triple flip, the County has overcharged the City of Martinez and has violated applicable state law. The identities of all persons who are responsible for the overcharge are not known to the City at this time. However, Martinez is informed and believes the persons responsible for the overcharge include, Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector, William Pollacek, County Administrator/Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, John Cullen, and the Board of Supervisors of the County of'Contra Costa. The amount claimed for fiscal year 2007- 2008 exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars and any suit to recover such funds would be an unlimited civil case. We understand and appreciate that the Counties and cities in California have engaged in ongoing discussions regarding these issues, and that the County of Contra Costa and the cities located therein have begun discussion with the County Counsel's Office in an effort to avoid litigation while we try to resolve this issue. We hope to continue those discussions moving forward. C:/Kathy/Martinez/Property Tax Admin Amended Claim 07-08.doc Mr. John Cullen September 25, 2008 Page 3 Thank you for your anticipated courtesy and thoughtful consideration of this matter. Very Tr ly You Veron ca A. eb Sr. Assistant Ci y orney City of Martinez C:/Kathy/Martinez/Property Tax Admin Amended Claim 07-08.doc 00,11, N WNm� N Nrdr- -�`0 ' 7W o �t1'�aCWttW'ts _ • '' � . a...o c r i i r N N P a N T O S U.) i O N 140- Ucc d ., co U rn ii'• y £ 3� WHp H r o m OV NN , I N U • O •�'�' r i r I• a � T G O N m tir, G «- G �. 0. G CU t,t t '1 W N F v, •1x':�� v U a � m