Clark County recently mailed refund checks to claimants in a class action lawsuit that was settled in late 2008. If you have a question about your refund or details of the settlement, please see the FAQs below.
Why is the county issuing refund checks?
The Building Industry Association of Clark County and several individual builders filed a class action lawsuit against Clark County in July, 2002. These parties sought refunds from Clark County for allegedly charging building permit applicants more than is authorized by the governing statute, RCW 82.02.020. In September 2008, a trial court ruled that certain portions of the fees were illegal. Subsequently, the parties reached a settlement and the court approved refunding a portion of the fee to the “payor”, meaning the person or company who originally paid the fee.
How was the amount of my refund determined?
The settlement agreement included a total payment of $1,187,545 from the County to the plaintiffs. Attorney fees and litigation expenses were subtracted from this figure. Interest accrued on the settlement total while the refunds were calculated. This interest was added to the refund total. After these calculations, the total refund amount is $874,562.49.
The total refund amount then was divided by the total building permit fee revenue collected between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2007. The total building permit fee revenue included only cases eligible for a refund. It did not include revenue related to plumbing, electrical, mechanical or other building-related permits. This calculation was done so refunds would include only the amount of the fee that the court ruled should not have been charged. The court did not invalidate the remaining portion of the fee. The total building permit fee revenues amounted to $13,864,167.22.
The total refund amount ($874,562.49) divided by the total building permit fee revenue (to $13,864,167.22) yields 0.0631. Each eligible permit fee was multiplied by 0.0631 to determine each claimant’s refund. Based on this calculation, an applicant that originally paid for a $100 permit would receive a refund of $6.31.
The final list of verified claims is available in this document: Refund master list (PDF - 292K).
What permit fees were eligible for a refund?
As defined in the settlement, all types of residential, remodel and commercial permit fees were eligible for the refund. The term “permit fee” in this context refers to only one “line item” charge, not the total cost of a building permit. A sample receipt for a building permit is included below to better explain this term:
Several line item charges make up the total building permit cost. In the sample above, the line item is the “Residential Permit Fee” of $874.17. This is the line item used to determine each refund.
In the example, the refund amount would be: $874.17 X .0631 = $55.16
I submitted several claims. Does the check include refunds for all my claims?
The county tried to include all of the refunds to a single claimant in one check. However, some claimants may receive more than one check or separate checks written to different entities. The refund recipient’s name was based on the original permit payor’s name.
I submitted a claim, but it is not included in my refund check. Why?
Unfortunately, the county and class counsel could not verify all submitted claims. The file below includes a list of all unverified claims and the reasons the claims could not be verified. Unverified claims list (PDF - 51K)
I didn’t apply for a refund yet. Can I still apply?
No, the application time frame ended in August 2009.
What if I have questions?
Please direct questions to the law firm representing the class members:
Groen, Stephens & Klinge LLP
11100 NE. 8th Street, Suite 750
Bellevue, Washington 98004
(425) 453-6206
