"Fanciful sum": Court cancels NIS 1.245 billion demand from Rafael

The Haifa District Court accepted Rafael's petition and canceled development levy demands totaling NIS 1.245 billion submitted by the Kiryat Yam municipality. Judge Ron Sokol ruled that the municipality's calculations contained substantial flaws and called the demanded amount "fanciful." Rafael argued that levy rates were raised in the 2018 calculations by tens of percent without justifying events, and that the charge is unreasonable given that the municipality collects only about NIS 2.7 million per year from the rest of the locality. The court found a substantial gap between the sample areas, which included dense construction, and Rafael's compound, which spans about 6,800 dunams, of which about 6,000 are within Kiryat Yam's boundaries, while the city area on which the calculations were based stood at 4,580 dunams. The judge sharply criticized the financial outcome and ruled that the sample cannot be used to determine the levy. The ruling does not preclude future charges, but states that the municipality can base a new demand on new calculations. The municipality will pay Rafael NIS 100,000 in legal costs.