City of El Paso, Texas v. High Ridge Construction, Inc.

442 S.W.3d 660, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8431, 2014 WL 3765932
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2014
Docket08-13-00187-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 442 S.W.3d 660 (City of El Paso, Texas v. High Ridge Construction, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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City of El Paso, Texas v. High Ridge Construction, Inc., 442 S.W.3d 660, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8431, 2014 WL 3765932 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

OPINION

YVONNE T. RODRIGUEZ, Justice.

This is an accelerated appeal from an order denying a plea to the jurisdiction filed by the City of El Paso. See Tex.Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8) (West Supp.2013). We reverse in part and affirm in part.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

In 2009, Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in response to the Great Recession. As a result of ARRA, the federal government provided increased funding for weatherization services. Those funds were administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) though local weatherization grants distributed to large cities, councils of government, and community action programs on a one-time basis. In order to receive these funds, the City entered into a contract with TDHCA to administer $4,007,592 of ARRA funds through the El Paso Weatherization Assistance Program (EP-WAP). Under the EP-WAP, the City reimbursed TDHCA-approved contractors who provided weatherization services, including the installation of energy efficient appliances, in qualified low income residential properties.1

On March 23, 2010, the City Council passed a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute standard contracts between the City of El Paso and TDHCA-approved contractors to perform eligible weatherization energy conservation services on approved residential units pursuant to the EP-WAP. The following day, the City entered into a contract with High Ridge Construction, Inc. to deliver energy assessment and weatherization emergency [664]*664conservation installment services related to the EP-WAP for eligible residential properties in El Paso. The contract expressly provided that the City would not pay High Ridge more than $600,000 for services performed under the contract.

The City hired employees to supervise and administer the EP-WAP. Ed Gonzalez served as the EP-WAP Project Coordinator and Robert Veliz served as the Lead Project Inspector. In October 2010, the City became aware that Veliz had issued work orders to High Ridge which exceeded the contractual cap of $600,000 and had authorized High Ridge to perform weatherization services at the Muñoz Apartments without work orders. The City paid High Ridge a total of $1,429,725.72, but it refused to pay an additional $753,869.55 for materials and services High Ridge provided to various residential dwellings, including the Muñoz Apartments.2 High Ridge filed suit against the City asserting claims for breach of contract and an unconstitutional taking of private property. It asserted that the City’s immunity from suit was waived pursuant to Section 271.151 of the Texas Local Government Code. It also claimed that the City is es-topped from denying its contractual obligations because it had accepted the benefits of High Ridge’s performance under the contract. The City answered and filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting governmental immunity.

After High Ridge amended its petition, the City filed another plea to the jurisdiction. High Ridge subsequently filed its second amended petition which continued to assert its breach of contract and unconstitutional takings claims and added a claim of equitable estoppel. In response, the City filed a plea to the second amended petition. In this plea, the City challenged High Ridge’s pleadings on their face and based on jurisdictional evidence attached to the plea. The trial court denied the plea to the jurisdiction.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A plea to the jurisdiction is a dilatory plea by which a party .challenges the court’s authority to determine the subject matter of the action. Harris County v. Sykes, 136 S.W.3d 635, 638 (Tex.2004); Bland Independent School District v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex.2000). The burden is on the plaintiff to allege facts affirmatively demonstrating that the trial court has subject matter jurisdiction. Texas Department of Criminal Justice v. Miller, 51 S.W.3d 583, 587 (Tex.2001); City of El Paso v. Mazie’s, L.P., 408 S.W.3d 13, 18 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2012, pet. denied). Whether a party has alleged facts that affirmatively demonstrate a trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law which is subject to de novo review. Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004); Mazie’s, 408 S.W.3d at 18. Likewise, whether undisputed evidence of jurisdictional facts establishes a trial court’s jurisdiction is also a question of law subject to de novo review. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226. In some cases, disputed evidence of jurisdictional facts that also implicate the merits of the case may require resolution by the finder of fact. Id.

In a plea to the jurisdiction, a defendant may challenge the plaintiff’s pleadings, the existence of jurisdictional facts, or both. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226-27. Here, the City’s plea to the jurisdiction is directed both at the pleadings [665]*665and the existence of jurisdictional facts. When examining the pleadings, we construe them liberally in favor of conferring jurisdiction. See Texas Department of Transportation v. Ramirez, 74 S.W.3d 864, 867 (Tex.2002). If the pleadings do not contain sufficient facts to affirmatively demonstrate the trial court’s jurisdiction but do not affirmatively demonstrate incurable defects in jurisdiction, the issue is one of pleading sufficiency and the plaintiffs should be afforded the opportunity to amend. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226-27. On the other hand, if the pleadings affirmatively negate the existence !of jurisdiction, then a plea to the jurisdiction may be granted without allowing the plaintiffs an opportunity to amend. Id. at 227.

When a plea to the jurisdiction challenges the existence of jurisdictional facts, the appellate court considers relevant evidence submitted by the parties when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issues presented. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 227. The standard of review for a jurisdictional plea based on evidence “generally mirrors that of a summary judg: ment under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a(c).” Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 228. Under this standard, when reviewing a plea in which the pleading requirement has been met, we credit as true all evidence favoring the nonmovant and draw all reasonable inferences and resolve any doubts in the nonmovant’s favor. Id. The movant must assert the absence of subject-matter jurisdiction and present conclusive proof that the trial court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction. Id. If the movant discharges this burden, the nonmovant must present evidence sufficient to raise a material issue of fact regarding jurisdiction, or the plea will be sustained. Id. If the evidence creates a fact question regarding the jurisdictional issue, then the trial court cannot grant the plea to the jurisdiction, and the fact question will be resolved by the fact finder. Id. at 227-28.

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442 S.W.3d 660, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8431, 2014 WL 3765932, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-el-paso-texas-v-high-ridge-construction-inc-texapp-2014.