{ "id": 5782341, "name": "GENUINE PARTS COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DU PAGE COUNTY et al., Defendants-Appellees", "name_abbreviation": "Genuine Parts Co. v. Du Page County", "decision_date": "1992-10-20", "docket_number": "No. 2\u201491\u20141446", "first_page": "685", "last_page": "689", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "236 Ill. App. 3d 685" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.", "id": 8837, "name": "Illinois Appellate Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 29, "name_long": "Illinois", "name": "Ill." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "149 Ill. 2d 265", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5599399 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "277" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/149/0265-01" ] }, { "cite": "143 Ill. 2d 489", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5591369 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1992, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "492" }, { "page": "492" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/143/0489-01" ] }, { "cite": "143 Ill. 2d 271", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5591518 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "278" }, { "page": "278" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/143/0271-01" ] }, { "cite": "149 Ill. 2d 190", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5599792 ], "year": 1991, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "194" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/149/0190-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 522, "char_count": 10164, "ocr_confidence": 0.764, "pagerank": { "raw": 8.181548657099301e-08, "percentile": 0.4753503003456958 }, "sha256": "0483c1e5416d3ed35ae1dda90333556edab53a188cc10168a78b221f09f24a5c", "simhash": "1:947744a509d9d9c0", "word_count": 1652 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T15:50:05.842880+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "GENUINE PARTS COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DU PAGE COUNTY et al., Defendants-Appellees." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "JUSTICE UNVERZAGT\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nPlaintiff, Genuine Parts Company, appeals the order of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, Du Page County and Karl D. Fry. Plaintiff contends that the court erred in concluding (1) that section 5 \u2014 918(b) of the Road Improvement Impact Fee Law (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 121, par. 5 \u2014 918(b)) does not exempt plaintiff from the payment of transportation impact fees in connection with the development of its warehouse and (2) that the county ordinance authorizing the imposition of impact fees for plaintiff\u2019s development had not been repealed by enactment of a subsequent inconsistent ordinance.\nPlaintiff is a Georgia corporation doing business as NAPA Auto Parts. In 1989, plaintiff purchased a parcel of property in Naperville in order to erect a new building to house its midwest distribution center. Before beginning construction, plaintiff obtained all necessary permits and paid a City of Naperville road impact fee. Naperville issued a building permit and, after construction was completed, issued a certificate of occupancy.\nApproximately three months later, plaintiff received a \u201cTransportation Road Impact Fee Assessment Notification\u201d dated August 16, 1990, from Du Page County. This document demanded that plaintiff pay a county transportation impact fee of $13,933.36. Plaintiff refused to pay and subsequently filed a three-count complaint in the circuit court of Du Page County. Count I sought an injunction to prohibit the collection of the fee. Count II sought a declaration that section 5\u2014 918(b) of the Road Improvement Impact Fee Law (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 121, par. 5 \u2014 918(b)) exempted plaintiff from payment of the fee. Count III sought a declaration that the county\u2019s impact fee ordinance had been repealed by the enactment of a later, inconsistent ordinance.\nBoth parties filed motions for summary judgment. On December 4, 1991, the court denied plaintiff\u2019s motion and granted defendants\u2019 motion regarding counts II and III of the complaint. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed count I and then filed a timely notice of appeal.\nPlaintiff\u2019s first contention on appeal is that the court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment on the ground that section 5 \u2014 918(b) did not exempt it from the payment of the county transportation impact fee. Section 5 \u2014 918 is part of the Road Improvement Impact Fee Law, an enabling act to permit units of local government to enact ordinances providing for the payment of transportation impact fees as a prerequisite to obtaining approval of a proposed development. Section 5 \u2014 918 provides in relevant part as follows:\n\u201c(b) Exemption of Developments Receiving Site Specific Development Approval. No development which has received site specific development approval from a unit of local government within 18 months before the first date of publication by the unit of local government of a notice of public hearing to consider land use assumptions relating to the development of a comprehensive road improvement plan and imposition of impact fees and which has filed for building permits or certificates of occupancy within 18 months of the date of approval of the site specific development plan shall be required to pay impact fees for permits or certificates of occupancy issued within that 18 month period.\n* * *\n(c) Exception to the Exemption of Developments Receiving Site Specific Development Approval. Nothing in this Section shall require the refund of impact fees previously collected by units of local government in accordance \"with their ordinances or resolutions, if such ordinances or resolutions were adopted prior to the effective date of this Act and provided that such impact fees are encumbered as provided by Section 5 \u2014 916.\u201d Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 121, pars. 5 \u2014 918(b), (c).\nIn a stipulation of facts filed in the trial court, the parties agreed that the timing provisions of section 5 \u2014 918(b) are applicable. Plaintiff thus argues that the plain language of that section exempts its development from the payment of impact fees. The county, however, contends that the exception to the exemption contained in section 5\u2014 918(c) is applicable.\nThe county\u2019s argument goes as follows. The Road Improvement Impact Fee Law became effective July 26, 1989. (Pub. Act 86 \u2014 97, eff. July 26, 1989.) Plaintiff received its building permit prior to that date. Plaintiff became liable for the fee at or prior to the time it obtained its building permit. Thus, the fee should be considered to have been collected as of that time, and, pursuant to section 5 \u2014 918(c), the county is not required to \u201crefund\u201d the fee which was \u201cpreviously collected.\u201d\nThe county maintains that the statutory section is ambiguous and that resort to extrinsic evidence reveals that the purpose of the Act was to ensure that existing county ordinances remained in force during the transition period to the new enabling act. Alternatively, the county contends that even if the language of the Act is unambiguous, ascribing to the words of the Act their plain and ordinary meanings would produce an absurd result. The county points out that, had plaintiff paid the fee at the time it received the building permit, the county would not have been required to refund the money. The county posits that plaintiff should not receive a benefit because it failed to pay the fee when it allegedly was due.\nThe fundamental principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature. (Hernon v. E.W. Corrigan Construction Co. (1992), 149 Ill. 2d 190, 194; Thomas v. Greer (1991), 143 Ill. 2d 271, 278.) This intent is determined initially by considering the language of the statute itself. (DeClerck v. Simpson (1991), 143 Ill. 2d 489, 492; Thomas, 143 Ill. 2d at 278.) In construing a statute, the words are to be given their plain and ordinary meanings. Opyt\u2019s Amoco, Inc. v. Village of South Holland (1992), 149 Ill. 2d 265, 277; DeClerck, 143 Ill. 2d at 492.\nIn the present case, the parties agree that the exemption created by section 5 \u2014 918(b) is potentially applicable. The county, however, argues that the exception to the exemption established in section 5\u2014 918(c) is also applicable. That paragraph states that nothing in the Act shall require \u201cthe refund of impact fees previously collected by units of local government.\u201d (III. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 121, par. 5\u2014 918(c).) We agree with plaintiff that these words must, be given their plain and ordinary meanings.\n\u201cRefund\u201d is defined as \u201c[t]o repay or restore; to return money in restitution or repayment.\u201d (Black\u2019s Law Dictionary 1281 (6th ed. 1990).) Similarly, \u201ccollect\u201d is defined as \u201cto claim and receive in payment or fair recompense\u201d and \u201cto present as due and receive payment for.\u201d (Webster\u2019s Third New International Dictionary 444 (1986).) The conclusion is inescapable that the legislature intended the exception to apply only to the actual refunding of fees which had been previously collected. Nothing in the statute permits the local government to continue to collect fees which had not previously been paid.\nSince the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, we have no need to consider the legislative debates and other extrinsic sources to which the parties refer. Moreover, we reject the county\u2019s assertion that the literal reading of the statute leads to an absurd result by permitting one who has willfully withheld payment of the fee to avoid payment altogether while not requiring a refund to one who has paid in a timely manner. Initially, the record does not support the county\u2019s conclusion that plaintiff willfully refused to pay. Indeed, the parties stipulated that plaintiff was unaware of the county impact fee ordinance prior to receiving the notice of assessment from the county. In addition, we do not believe the distinction between fees previously collected and those which are \u201cdue\u201d but unpaid is arbitrary. The legislature obviously intended to exempt all developments which met the criteria of section 5 \u2014 918(b). It could have concluded that a narrow exception was necessary to prevent the disruption of municipal treasuries which would be caused by having to refund fees which had already been collected and encumbered as required by the enabling Act. See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 121, pars. 5 \u2014 916, 5 \u2014 918(c).\nWe also reject the county\u2019s contention that plaintiff became liable for payment of the fee the moment it received its building permit despite its lack of knowledge of the ordinance and the absence of any attempt to collect the fee prior to the issuance of the permit. In this regard, the ordinance provides that \u201cfair share transportation impact fees for non-residential development imposed pursuant to this Ordinance shall be assessed and collected in full prior to the issuance of a building permit.\u201d (Du Page County, Ill., Ordinance ODT \u2014 021\u201489, \u00a76(2) (June 29, 1989).) As noted previously, \u201ccollect\u201d refers to the actions of the party expecting a payment to obtain it. Nothing in the ordinance provides that a developer has an independent obligation to determine the amount of the fee due and remit that amount in the absence of a request by the county or municipality.\nBased on the plain meaning of the statute, plaintiff was exempt from the payment of the impact fee. Thus, the circuit court\u2019s order granting summary judgment for the county must be reversed. Because of our disposition of this issue, we need not reach plaintiff\u2019s alternative argument.\nFor the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County is reversed, and the cause is remanded with directions to enter judgment for plaintiff.\nReversed and remanded with directions.\nWOODWARD and McLAREN, JJ., concur.", "type": "majority", "author": "JUSTICE UNVERZAGT" } ], "attorneys": [ "Robert Handley, of Moroni & Handley, of Carol Stream, for appellant.", "James E. Ryan, State\u2019s Attorney, of Wheaton (Barbara A. Preiner and Anna B. Harkins, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for appellees." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "GENUINE PARTS COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DU PAGE COUNTY et al., Defendants-Appellees.\nSecond District\nNo. 2\u201491\u20141446\nOpinion filed October 20, 1992.\nRobert Handley, of Moroni & Handley, of Carol Stream, for appellant.\nJames E. Ryan, State\u2019s Attorney, of Wheaton (Barbara A. Preiner and Anna B. Harkins, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for appellees." }, "file_name": "0685-01", "first_page_order": 705, "last_page_order": 709 }