Facts
The municipality of Baden filed a constitutional appeal against the judgment of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Aargau, which had abolished the sewer connection fee of CHF 231,340.- levied by the City of Baden for the construction of a new industrial hall of the respondent [B. AG] .
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal of the municipality of Baden. It concluded that the different treatment of renovations/expansions on the one hand and replacement buildings on the other hand in the levying of the sewer connection fee violates the principle of legal equality. The City of Baden must therefore calculate the connection fee for the replacement building according to the same criteria as for renovations and cannot charge the full fee pursuant to § 43 of the municipal wastewater regulations.
Considerations
The Federal Court stated that the levy in question essentially fulfills the characteristics of a connection fee, which is intended to compensate for the actual connection to the public sewer network. In this respect, it was constitutionally unobjectionable for the Administrative Court to see a violation of the principle of equal treatment in the different calculation of the connection fee for renovations/expansions on the one hand and replacement buildings on the other. Even if the levy were to be classified as a preferential charge, there would be a legally unequal treatment with regard to the…