Docket No. 95181-Agenda 18-May 2003.

RAINTREE HOMES, INC., et al., Appellees, v. THE VILLAGE OF LONG GROVE, Appellant.

Opinion filed March 18, 2004.
 

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs, Raintree Homes, Inc., and Raintree Builders, Inc., filed aone-count amended complaint against defendant, the Village of LongGrove (the Village), seeking a declaratory judgment as to the validity ofa Village ordinance requiring the payment of impact fees to the Village toobtain building permits and a refund of those fees paid by plaintiffs. Thecircuit court of Lake County dismissed the complaint with prejudice. Theappellate court reversed and remanded, holding that the one-year statuteof limitations contained in section 8-101 of the Local Governmental andGovernmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (the Tort Immunity Act orAct) (745 ILCS 10/8-101 (West 2000)) did not apply to the presentcause of action. 335 Ill. App. 3d 317. The Village argues for reversal ofthe appellate court because: (1) the statute of limitation of the Act (745ILCS 10/8-101 (West 2002)) bars all but one of plaintiffs' claims, (2)plaintiffs lack standing to assert the sole claim that is not time-barred, and(3) the appellate court erred in remanding the matter to a different trialjudge. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs filed their initial complaint on March 26, 1998, and theiramended complaint on July 14, 2000. The amended complaint alleged thatplaintiffs entered into several contracts to build homes in the Village fromFebruary 1993 to August 1997. As a condition of these contracts,plaintiffs were required to apply for and obtain building permits from theVillage and were required to pay all impact fees for the issuance of thebuilding permits. From June 26, 1996, through February 1998, section4-1-4(B) of the village code required the payment of impact fees, settingforth that "as a condition of the issuance of a building permit for theconstruction of a dwelling unit, the building permit applicant shall berequired to donate monies to the Village." Long Grove Municipal Code