MADISON – The Waukesha County Circuit Court found the Village of Pewaukee to be in contempt of court for disobeying a decision from the Court of Appeals.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) filed suit against the Village of Pewaukee to challenge its “transportation user fee.” Last March, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals struck down the fee by declaring it to be an “impermissible tax.” But Pewaukee continued to impose the illegal tax on municipal utility bills in April and July. The WMC Litigation Center, on behalf of WMC and Hawthorne Place, LLC, filed a motion asking the Waukesha County Circuit Court to hold Pewaukee in contempt and order the village to reimburse its taxpayers for the revenue that it illegally collected since April. On Friday, the court granted the motion, finding Pewaukee to be in contempt.
“This decision protects the rule of law and returns this money back to where it belongs — in the pockets of the taxpayers,” said Nathan Kane, Deputy Director of the WMC Litigation Center, who argued the contempt motion on behalf of WMC and Hawthorne Place. “Taxpayers should not have to pay a fee that was already determined by a court to be illegal. If the government doesn’t have to follow the law, who does?”
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