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City attorney recommends resisting demand to repeal water and sewer connection fees; council concurs
Summary
The city attorney told the Brooksville City Council the city's legal analysis supports keeping water and sewer connection fees in place and asked whether council would support resisting a demand from an outside law firm; council indicated consensus to follow the attorney's recommendation.
The City of Brooksville’s attorney reported the city received a demand from a law firm seeking repeal of the city’s water and sewer connection fees. After reviewing the relevant issues, the attorney recommended the city “not cave to this unreasonable demand,” and asked for council consensus on how to proceed. Council members signaled agreement with the attorney’s recommendation.
Why it matters: Connection fees are a recurring source of capital funding for utility infrastructure and are subject to statutory and policy constraints. The council’s direction preserves those fees while the city’s legal team responds to the claim.
What was said and next steps - The city attorney summarized the demand and the firm’s request and said the city’s analysis supports defending the fees. The attorney asked the council if they agreed with the recommendation to not acquiesce to the demand. - Council members indicated consensus support for the attorney’s recommendation. - No ordinance or formal repeal was proposed in the meeting; the matter will be handled by the city attorney’s office consistent with the direction given in open session.
The council did not provide further public debate in the workshop and asked the city attorney to proceed with the recommended legal response. No confidential or executive-session deliberations were recorded in the transcript for this item.
