Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Wende Cross has certified two classes in White v. Cincinnati, litigation in which both the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law and Finney Law Firm represented payors of the illegal and unconstitutional Cincinnati tax on security alarm systems. The two distinct classes certified are (a) residential and (b) non-residential payors of the Cincinnati alarms tax.
The City charged residential alarm-system-owners $50 per year to register their systems and commercial owners $100 to register their systems. Last fall, the 1st District Court of Appeals unanimously ruled the tax illegal under Ohio law and unconstitutional, overruling a trial Court ruling on the same subject. In March of this year, the Ohio Supreme Court preserved that victory for Cincinnati property owners when it refused to accept discretionary review of the case.
We now proceed to an an Order that will establish the amount and procedures for the restitution of the illegally-collected sums, a fairness hearing, and then distribution of the refunds to payors. We aim for the conclusion of those steps this calendar year. The amount of restitution is expected to be more than $3.6 million.
For questions, contact Chris Finney at 513.943.6655.
You may read the order issued April 22 here.
