The Fairfax County School Board sued Falls Church on Tuesday, joining the Board of Supervisors and several county apartment owners in a series of lawsuits filed against the city over water bills.
The school board is requesting a $70,798 refund, including 10 percent interest, for overcharges it says were paid on its Falls Church water bills from 2007 to 2009.
As in the other cases against Falls Church, the board points to a January circuit court ruling that the “management fee” Falls Church charged to its Fairfax County water customers since 2007 constituted an illegal, extraterritorial tax.
Six cases related to erroneous water charges have been filed in the past two weeks.
Due to a three-year statue of limitations on tax assessments, requests for refunds from 2007 had to be made before the end of 2010. The deadline left county and local attorneys scrambling to file before the Fairfax County Circuit Court closes for the year.
In the county’s other filing on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors requested a refund of $78,899. The board reserves the right to request overcharges from 2010 once it is clear how much the county says it’s owed, according to county spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald.
Falls Church officials have declined to comment on the cases.
