Capital Drilling Co. v. Graves

496 So. 2d 487
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 15, 1986
DocketCA 85 0768
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 496 So. 2d 487 (Capital Drilling Co. v. Graves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capital Drilling Co. v. Graves, 496 So. 2d 487 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

496 So.2d 487 (1986)

CAPITAL DRILLING COMPANY
v.
Sheriff Odom GRAVES, Ex-Officio Tax Collector, Livingston Parish.

No. CA 85 0768.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

October 15, 1986.

*488 Chris Verret, Lafayette, for plaintiff.

John Burgess, Livingston, for defendant.

Before GROVER L. COVINGTON, C.J., and LANIER and ALFORD, JJ.

LANIER, Judge.

This is a suit for recovery of ad valorem taxes paid under protest. The defendant filed a peremptory exception raising the objections of no cause of action and prescription. The trial court sustained the exception on the basis of both objections and dismissed the plaintiff's petition with prejudice. This devolutive appeal followed.

FACTS

The objection of no cause of action tests the legal sufficiency of the petition, and all allegations of fact in the petition are accepted as true; no evidence may be introduced at a hearing on an objection of no cause of action. La.C.C.P. art. 931; McGowan v. Ramey, 484 So.2d 785 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986).

Evidence may be introduced at the trial of an objection of prescription. La.C.C.P. art. 931. In the instant case, no evidence was presented in the trial court. In the absence of evidence, the objection of prescription must be based upon the facts alleged in the petition, and all allegations thereof are accepted as true. Robinson v. Barq's Beverages of Baton Rouge, Inc., 172 So.2d 143 (La.App. 1st Cir.1965), writ refused, 247 La. 871, 175 So.2d 108 (1965). Thus, the facts, for purposes of both objections herein, are those alleged in the petition, which provides as follows:

1.
The defendant is Sheriff Odom Graves in his capacity as ex-officio ad valorem tax collector for Livingston Parish.
*489 2.
Defendant is indebted to petitioner for the refund of ad valorem taxes for the year 1984 paid under protest and interest on the amount of said refund at the rate of two (2%) percent per annum from March 5, 1985 until paid in full for the following.
3.
Defendant instituted proceedings entitled `Honorable Odom Graves, In His Capacity As Sheriff and Ex-Officio Tax Collector vs. Capital Drilling Company' being number 45,699-F on the docket of this Court on January 30, 1985 to collect ad valorem taxes allegedly owed by petitioner to defendant for 1984.
4.
The amount of taxes allegedly owed by petitioner and demanded by defendant in the lawsuit identified in paragraph 3, above, is represented by 1984 Livingston Parish Assessment No. 8000925, a copy of which is annexed to the Petition identified in paragraph 3, above, marked for identification therewith as Exhibit Number 1 and by this reference fully incorporated herein.
5.
On March 5, 1985 petitioner paid the amount found to be due by defendant under protest as evidenced by the letter dated March 5, 1985 signed by an authorized representative of defendant which is attached hereto, marked for identification herewith as Exhibit `A' and by this reference fully incorporated herein.
6.
The amount of taxes which petitioner has paid to defendant under protest violates the provisions of Article VII, Section 18, of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.

Pursuant to La.C.C.P. art. 2164, an "appellate court shall render any judgment which is just, legal, and proper upon the record on appeal." [Emphasis added.] An appellate court may not consider evidence which is outside that record. Gallagher v. Gallagher, 248 La. 621, 181 So.2d 47 (1965). The briefs of the parties herein assert certain facts not contained in the petition. The briefs of the parties are not part of the record, and this court has no authority to consider on appeal facts referred to in brief (or attachments thereto) which are not in the pleadings (or the evidence when such is presented). Bunch v. Town of St. Francisville, 446 So.2d 1357 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984); United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company v. Victory Land Company, Inc., 410 So.2d 359 (La.App. 4th Cir.1982), writ denied, 412 So.2d 1113 (La.1982).

PRESCRIPTION

(Assignment of Error No. 3)[1]

Plaintiff-appellant contends the trial court committed error in sustaining the peremptory exception based on the objection of prescription. Specifically, it is asserted that the cause of action herein arises pursuant to and is controlled by La.R.S. 47:2110; 47:2110 authorizes an aggrieved taxpayer to pay ad valorem taxes under protest and file suit for a refund within thirty days after payment; plaintiff paid its 1984 taxes under protest on March 5, 1985; this suit was filed on March 26, 1985, within the thirty day period; and, thus, the cause of action is not prescribed. Appellee contends the appellant's 1984 taxes were due and payable not later than December 31, 1984, and that the payment under protest on March 5, 1985, is too late. Appellee argues that to interpret La.R.S. 47:2110 to allow "every tax debtor ... to pay taxes at their [sic] whim", and not when due, would adversely affect public bodies which budget in reliance on these taxes.

*490 The objection of prescription raised in a peremptory exception may assert any of the defenses set forth in Title XXIV— Prescription of the Civil Code. Those defenses are found and defined in Chapter 1 of Title XXIV as (1) acquisitive prescription, (2) liberative prescription, (3) prescription of nonuse, and (4) peremption. In the instant case, only liberative prescription (La.C.C. art. 3447) or peremption (La.C.C. art. 3458) could be applicable. Although there are substantial conceptual and practical differences between liberative prescription and peremption, it is not always easy to determine into which category a time limit fixed by law falls. Reporter's Comment (c) under La.C.C. art. 3458; Comment, Prescription and Peremption—The 1982 Revision of the Louisiana Civil Code, 58 Tul.L.Rev. 593 (1983); Comment, Legal Rights and the Passage of Time, 41 La.L.Rev. 220 (1980). Cf. Hebert v. Doctors Memorial Hospital, 486 So.2d 717 (La.1986).

La.R.S. 47:2110 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. No court of this state shall issue any process whatsoever to restrain the collection of an ad valorem tax imposed by the state, or by any political subdivision thereof, under authority granted to it by the legislature or by the constitution. Any person resisting the payment of any amount of tax found due, or the enforcement of any provision of the tax laws in relation thereto, shall pay the amount found due to the officer designated by law for the collection of such tax and shall give the officer notice at the time of payment of his intention to file suit for the recovery of such tax. Upon receipt of such notice, the amount so paid shall be segregated and held by the officer for a period of thirty days. If suit is filed within such time for the recovery of the tax, such amount so segregated shall be further held pending the outcome of the suit. If the taxpayer prevails, the officer shall refund the amount to the taxpayer with interest at the rate of two per centum per annum for the period from the date such funds were received by the officer to the date of such refund.
B.

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Bluebook (online)
496 So. 2d 487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capital-drilling-co-v-graves-lactapp-1986.