Comm-Care Corp. v. Louisiana Tax Com'n

681 So. 2d 1001, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 0039, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 2214, 1996 WL 551769
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 27, 1996
Docket96 CA 0039
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 681 So. 2d 1001 (Comm-Care Corp. v. Louisiana Tax Com'n) 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
Comm-Care Corp. v. Louisiana Tax Com'n, 681 So. 2d 1001, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 0039, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 2214, 1996 WL 551769 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

681 So.2d 1001 (1996)

COMM-CARE CORPORATION,
v.
LOUISIANA TAX COMMISSION, et al.

No. 96 CA 0039.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

September 27, 1996.

Paul S. West, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff/Appellant Comm-Care Corporation.

John A. Stassi, II, Metairie, Tony C. Tillman, Leesville, for Defendant/Appellee Frank Howard, Sheriff Vernon Parish.

K. Todd Cagle and W. Mark McKee, West Monroe, for Defendants/Appellees Laymon Godwin, Sheriff, Ouachita Parish and Willie Houck, Sheriff, Lincoln Parish.

David R. Lestage, DeRidder, for Defendant/Appellee M. Bolivar Bishop, Sheriff, Beauregard Parish.

James T. Lee, Bunkie, for Defendant/Appellee Cynthia Dauzat, Ex-Officio Tax Collector for the City of Bunkie.

John F. Weeks, II, Metairie, for Defendants/Appellees William O. "Bill" Belt, Sheriff, Avoyelles Parish and Harold L. Tridico, Sheriff, Ascension Parish.

Russell Purvis, Jonesville, for Defendants/Appellees Joe Tom Trunzler, Sheriff, and Yolanda McClure, Ex-Officio Tax Collector for the Town of Jonesville.

Leu Anne Lester Greco, Baton Rouge, for Defendant/Appellee Elmer B. Litchfield, Sheriff, Parish of East Baton Rouge.

Before WATKINS and KUHN, JJ., and GUIDRY, J. Pro Tem.[1]

KUHN, Judge.

This is an appeal of the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a non-profit corporate taxpayer to recover ad valorem taxes paid under protest after the trial court sustained peremptory exceptions raising the objections of prescription and no cause of action. The *1002 issue raised in this appeal is whether a taxpayer challenging the validity of an ad valorem taxation assessed against it must make the payment under protest before the end of the tax year in order to recover. We affirm.

FACTS

According to the allegations of its petition, plaintiff-appellant, Comm-Care Corporation ("Comm-Care"), is a non-profit, tax exempt corporation. On March 1, 1994, Comm-Care purchased ten nursing home facilities ("the facilities") which are located in nine parishes in Louisiana. Prior to its acquisition of the facilities, Comm-Care was recognized as a tax exempt organization by the United States Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). The acquisition did not affect the IRS classification of Comm-Care as tax exempt.

On April 20, 1994, Comm-Care notified defendants-appellees, the tax collectors of each of the parishes and municipalities in which the facilities are located, of its acquisition of property and its non-profit, tax exempt status. In the written notification, Comm-Care requested the property be placed on the exempt tax rolls effective March 1, 1994.

Comm-Care received tax notices from the tax collector of each parish and municipality advising the total amount of taxes due. The various notices demanded payment by the 31st of December of the tax year.[2] In March 1995, Comm-Care paid each defendant the entire amount assessed, including interest and other fees, and advised that payment was being made under protest.

On April 5, 1995, Comm-Care filed a petition seeking a declaratory judgment declaring it to be an entity exempt from payment of ad valorem taxes and demanding a refund of all amounts paid under protest.

In its challenge of the validity of the ad valorem taxation, Comm-Care asserts pursuant to the provisions of La. Const. art. VII, Sec. 21,[3] it is entitled to be placed on the exempt tax rolls of each parish in which a facility is located and, the effective date of its exemption from ad valorem taxation should be the date it acquired the facilities, i.e., March 1, 1994. Comm-Care urges because the facilities had not been assessed for 1994 as of March 1, and it notified the assessors of its claim for exemption on April 20, 1994, prior to the filing of the 1994 tax rolls, the subject facilities must be placed on the exempt tax rolls as of March 1, 1994. Comm-Care maintains the provisions of La. R.S. 47:1952(A)[4] support its contention.

The defendants filed various declinatory, dilatory and peremptory exceptions. After a hearing on those exceptions on June 26, 1995, the trial court granted a declinatory exception *1003 pleading the objection of lis pendens in favor of M. Bolivar Bishop and dismissed him from the lawsuit. Additionally, the peremptory exceptions raising the objections of prescription and no cause of action in favor of the remaining defendants were maintained and Comm-Care's lawsuit was dismissed. From this judgment Comm-Care appeals.[5]

PRESCRIPTION

Comm-Care urges the trial court erred in granting defendants' peremptory exception raising the objection of prescription. Having complied with the provisions of La. R.S. 47:2110, Comm-Care contends its cause of action to recover taxes paid under protest is timely.

At the trial of an objection of prescription, evidence may be introduced. La. C.C.P. art. 931. In this case, however, no evidence relative to defendants' objection of prescription was introduced at the hearing. 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. Capital Drilling Co. v. Graves, 496 So.2d 487, 488 (La. App. 1st Cir.1986).

Accepting its allegations as true, Comm-Care's petition establishes that in March 1995, each of the tax collectors were paid the ad valorem taxes assessed on the property owned by Comm-Care along with interest and other fees. Additionally, each tax collector was notified the payment was made under protest. Based on Capital Drilling Co. v. Graves, 496 So.2d 487 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986), the trial court concluded a timely payment of the taxes under protest must have been made in order to preserve the right to litigate the validity of the tax under the provisions of § 2110. The trial court found in order to have been timely, Comm-Care should have made payment by December 31, 1994.

At the time Comm-Care asserted its cause of action for recovery of taxes paid under protest, La.R.S. 47:2110 provided in relevant part:

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 to 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, then that portion of the taxes paid that are in dispute shall be deemed as paid under protest and such amount shall be segregated and shall be further held pending the outcome of the suit. That portion of the taxes paid by the taxpayer to the officer which is not in dispute shall not be made subject to the protest. If the taxpayer prevails, the officer shall refund the amount to the taxpayer with interest at the rate of two percent per annum for the period from the date such funds were received by the officer to the date of such refund.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kinchen v. Livingston Parish Council
959 So. 2d 896 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
Haynes v. Jackson
951 So. 2d 305 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Whitten Foundation v. Wilson
938 So. 2d 100 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Louisiana Employers-Managed Insurance Co. v. Litchfield
805 So. 2d 386 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
LOUISIANA EMP.-MANAGED INS. CO. v. Litchfield
805 So. 2d 386 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
Comm-Care Corp. v. Bishop
706 So. 2d 425 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1998)
Phares v. Gill
697 So. 2d 35 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
681 So. 2d 1001, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 0039, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 2214, 1996 WL 551769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/comm-care-corp-v-louisiana-tax-comn-lactapp-1996.