Vacation rental owner sues fire district over higher assessment

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — A vacation rental owner is suing the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District over its decision to start charging short-term rentals at its commercial fire assessment rate.

Belleair Beach homeowner Vadim S. Carter says the change increased his annual assessment from $360 to $1,066 — a 196% increase.

His lawsuit, filed Aug. 31 in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, argues that the district lacked authority to make the change without voter approval and did not have sufficient analysis to support it.

Carter, who is representing himself, wants a judge to block the higher assessment, correct the assessment roll and refund any excess amount he pays, with interest.

The lawsuit comes less than two weeks after the district's fire commission approved an assessment roll Aug. 18 reclassifying nearly 1,900 short-term rentals from residential to commercial.

The district, based in Indian Rocks Beach, has said the change is expected to generate about $1.2 million more annually to help cover the cost of inspecting the properties and enforcing fire-safety requirements.

But Carter's lawsuit questions the analysis behind those claims.

According to his complaint, when commissioners initially approved the reclassification Jan. 20, the agenda packet contained no study, cost analysis, parcel count, revenue estimate or staffing analysis.

The district later produced two memoranda from Fire Chief Ken Grimes dated Aug. 11 and Aug. 13.

One referred to a staffing model used to calculate inspector-hour demand. Carter alleges the spreadsheet provided to him was an empty template, with zeros in its numeric fields and an error in the field calculating additional inspectors needed. The lawsuit says the district subsequently told Carter it did not have a populated version of the spreadsheet.

Grimes previously told The Pinellas Current that three years of district data showed the inspection program would require about 5,200 staff hours annually, including reinspections, and the equivalent of about three full-time inspectors.

Asked for the records or calculations supporting those figures, Grimes said he could not immediately respond.

“This now is a pending law suit and our policy is to not comment,” he said in an email. “I need to confer with counsel before I do.”

Did the change require a public vote?

The lawsuit also raises a more fundamental question: Did the district need voter approval?

The district did not increase its assessment rates. Instead, it moved qualifying vacation rentals from the existing residential category to the commercial category.

Carter's suit argues that doesn't matter. The district's charter requires a referendum whenever commissioners change “the rate of assessments in any way.” Carter contends increasing his assessment from $360 to $1,066 triggered that referendum requirement.

He also questions why vacation rentals are treated differently from other transient lodging. Under the district's schedule, timeshare units pay $360 and motel rental units $265, while Carter's property was assessed $1,066.

Moreover, the lawsuit challenges how the district identifies qualifying properties. Carter argues that online rental listings don't necessarily establish whether a home meets Florida's definition of a “transient public lodging establishment.”

Carter is involved in separate litigation with Indian Rocks Beach over another vacation rental he owns, court records show. A city special magistrate last year found that his property had operated as an unregistered vacation rental and imposed $5,000 in fines and $500 in administrative costs.

Carter appealed the ruling to the circuit court. Both sides have submitted their arguments, and the case is awaiting a decision, records show.

We keep an eye on local government so you don't have to. Follow The Pinellas Current on Facebook and Nextdoor.