Property owners sue Yonkers over fire inspections
YONKERS - Two property owners are suing the city over annual fire inspection fees.
WMC Realty Corp. and T.A.C. Realty filed a class action lawsuit on Oct. 3 asking the state Supreme Court to invalidate the city's annual Fire and Building Safety Inspection Program fees and reimburse affected property owners.
The fees range from $250 for three-unit buildings, to $1,250 for buildings with more than 20 units. Commercial buildings are charged different rates and one- and two-family dwellings are exempt from the fees.
"Although the city collects millions of dollars from its inspection fees, only a small number of properties are actually inspected," attorney Stephen A. Cerrato wrote in his complaint. "Instead, the city conducts very limited inspections and no established procedures are followed regarding the frequency or extent of the inspections charged for."
WMC Realty Corp. owns a commercial building at 806 McLean Ave. and T.A.C Realty Corp. owns commercial buildings at 866 and 870 McLean Ave. The lawsuit claimed that between 1994 and 2014, both corporations paid annual fire safety inspection fees of about $375, but their buildings were never inspected under the Fire and Building Safety Inspection Program.
Yonkers' attorney said the case has no merit.
"On Sept. 20, 2017, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a similar action, brought by the same attorney, challenging Fire Safety Program Fees which are codified in Yonkers City Code Section 55-7," corporation counsel Michael Curti wrote in an email. "We look forward to making another successful motion to dismiss this new complaint, brought on behalf of a new client, at the earliest opportunity."
The section of the City Code that addresses the fees for the fire inspection program does not state how frequent the inspections of buildings should be.
In Yonkers' 2017-18 adopted budget, the city's Fire Prevention unit, which conducts fire inspections, was budgeted $1.7 million. The lawsuit claimed that the city receives about $3.5 million annually from the inspection fees.
Yonkers officials did not respond to a question about the amount of the city's annual revenue from fire inspection fees.
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