A Warren County judge has ordered township officials to return $2.5 million in impact fees collected since 2007.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in May the impact fees the township has been charging new home builders are impermissible taxes. Judge James Flannery on Friday ruled the township must return $2.1 million to the home builders like Drees who sued them and $403,177 to individuals who did not sue but paid the taxes.

The builders who sued must receive their refund, with interest, by Dec. 15. The individual impact fee payers will also receive interest that has accrued on their payments. The outstanding sums will be sorted out at a future hearing on attorneys fees.

The fastest growing township in Warren County instituted impact fees in May 2007 to deal with the large growth it was receiving in new homes. The Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati and a bevy of builders sued within three months.

Flannery and the 12th District Court of Appeals found the fees were permissible. Since no other township in the state had tested the right to impose the fees, the high court accepted the case.

The township argued since the fees are segregated into four accounts, for police, fire, parks and roads, and can only be used for capital projects or purchases, they are not taxes.

Justice Paul Pfeifer, who penned the opinion, said segregating the funds is not enough to make the fees truly fees.

“The ultimate use of the revenue, places the assessment solidly in the realm of taxation,” he wrote. “The fact that the funds from the assessment are segregated into separate accounts is irrelevant. The fact that revenue is earmarked for police protection, fire protection, road improvement and parks that benefit the entire community is the key factor. The assessments raise revenue for the public’s benefit.”