Usage fees

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The concept of user fees results from the municipal tax law , which in turn is reflected in the municipal tax laws of the federal states. Essentially, the term user fees is uniformly defined in the municipal tax laws and their implementing provisions as consideration for the use of a public facility . In particular, this concerns the statutory fee for the use of a public service. Classic examples of municipal user fees are

• Waste charges
• Sewage charges
• Fees for the use of public-law libraries
• Fees for the police and fire-fighting facilities (implementations / alarms, etc.)
• Fees for the use of a community center.

While the fee can be largely freely determined in private law, user fees are subject to principles and special rules resulting from public law . For many decades the administrative courts have had numerous legal principles relating to charges such as

• the equivalence principle,
• the cost recovery principle,
• the principle of equality / principle of type justice as well
• the principle of necessity of costs

which must be taken into account when calculating the fee rates.

Usage fees are set by a fee notice. The determination is an administrative act within the meaning of § 35 sentence 1 VwVfG. The fact that triggers the obligation to pay fees is usually when the corresponding facility is "used". This does not always have to require active behavior on the part of the fee debtor. If the fire brigade has to act to rescue the fee debtor or his property, or if the police have to move his vehicle, the offense is fulfilled by performing the official act (usually as an administrative act). The fee can also arise if the applicant is granted a concession or concession. Then the offense is fulfilled with the adoption of the favorable administrative act.

As an administrative act, the setting of the user fee can be challenged with a legal remedy (lawsuit and, in many federal states, previously also with an objection ). It should be noted that according to According to Section 80 (2) No. 1 VwGO, the corresponding legal remedy does not create a suspensive effect (i.e. suspensive effect), since the case law subsumes user fees under "public charges". The purpose of the regulation is to ensure that public budgets are able to act. Therefore, the charge must in any case after the occurrence of the component force or, if necessary, previously initially settled in order for immediate execution, as far as a request for suspension of execution to the authority (§ 80 4 sentence. 1 VwGO) has not been accepted or an application by order of suspensive effect to the administrative court (§ 80 Abs. 5 Satz 1 Var. 2 VwGO) was unsuccessful. If the appellant or the plaintiff has won the case, he will receive the fee back.