Łobżenica rainwater discharge fee resolution annulled in full

The Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny in Poznaniu annulled in its entiretyNSA the resolution by which the town council of Łobżenica set the method for calculating the charge for discharging rainwater and meltwater in Gmina Łobżenica.

The ruling was issued on 13 November 2026NSA in case III SA/Po 744/26NSA on the complaint of D. Z. against Resolution No XXXV/291/26 of the Rada Miejska w Łobżenicy of 29 May 2026NSA on determining the method of calculating the fee for discharging rainwater and meltwater in Gmina Łobżenica. The court stated the invalidity of the contested resolution in wholeNSANSA and awarded the complainant 797 zł against Gmina Łobżenica as reimbursement of the costs of the proceedings.

The annulled resolution governed only the local calculation method: who pays for discharging rainwater and meltwater into the local system in Łobżenica, over what base, and under what calculation rule. Its title identifies it as a measure determining the calculation method for Gmina Łobżenica. For payers with property in Gmina Łobżenica, the practical point is direct: the court annulled that calculation method in whole in case III SA/Po 744/26.

Under the procedural framework for challenges to local-law acts, a court that upholds a complaint against a resolution of a municipal body states the invalidity of that resolution in whole or in part. Individual settlements issued on the basis of such a resolution are then subject to reopening in the administrative procedure or in a special procedureSejm. That is the route for correcting individual fee assessments that were fixed by applying the annulled calculation method, rather than treating those assessments as automatically adjusted.

Costs follow the outcome at first instance: where the court of first instance upholds the complaint, the complainant is entitled to reimbursement from the authority that issued the contested act for the costs of the proceedings necessary for the purposeful pursuit of rights. Here the court fixed that reimbursement at 797 zł in favour of D. Z. against Gmina Łobżenica.

The published operative part contains the outcome, the case number, the panel, the parties, the contested resolution number and date, and the costs award. It does not state the substantive ground on which the calculation method failed.NSA No published reasoning was located in the workspace. Payers and advisers should therefore read the forthcoming written reasons before drawing conclusions about what a replacement resolution must do differently, and should monitor whether the council adopts a new calculation method.

A practitioner acting for a person charged in Łobżenica takes three steps: identify every assessment or demand that cites Resolution XXXV/291/26NSA of 29 May 2026; seek reopening or correction of individual settlements fixed under the annulled method through the applicable administrative or special procedure; and suspend reliance on the annulled method for future calculations. The operative part contains no ruling on amounts already paidNSA; correction of individual fee assessments fixed under the annulled method follows the reopening route for settlements issued on the basis of such a resolution.

Legal basis: Resolution No XXXV/291/26 of the Rada Miejska w Łobżenicy of 29 May 2026 on the method of calculating the fee for discharging rainwater and meltwater in Gmina Łobżenica; Ustawa z dnia 30 sierpnia 2002 r. Prawo o postępowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi, Art. 147 sections 1-2 and Art. 200.