Hollywood Cemetery Ass'n v. BOARD OF MAYOR AND SELECTMEN

760 So. 2d 715, 2000 Miss. LEXIS 72, 2000 WL 298719
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 23, 2000
Docket1998-CA-01399-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 760 So. 2d 715 (Hollywood Cemetery Ass'n v. BOARD OF MAYOR AND SELECTMEN) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hollywood Cemetery Ass'n v. BOARD OF MAYOR AND SELECTMEN, 760 So. 2d 715, 2000 Miss. LEXIS 72, 2000 WL 298719 (Mich. 2000).

Opinion

760 So.2d 715 (2000)

HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
v.
BOARD OF MAYOR AND SELECTMEN OF the CITY OF McCOMB CITY, Mississippi.

No. 1998-CA-01399-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 23, 2000.

*716 William F. Selph, III, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.

Attorney for Appellees: John Harris White, Jr., McComb, Attorney for Appellees.

BEFORE PITTMAN AND BANKS, P.JJ., AND MILLS, J.

MILLS, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. The Circuit Court of Pike County, Mississippi acting as an appellate court pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 11-51-75 (1972), affirmed the action of the Board of Mayor and Selectmen of the City of McComb City, Mississippi (City), denying that Hollywood Cemetery Association (HCA) had a property interest in the opening and closing of graves in the city-owned cemetery; that board actions of the City constituted an unjust taking; or that the City interfered with HCA's contract rights. From that decision HCA appeals assigning the following as error:

1) Whether the City of McComb, Mississippi through the Board of Mayor and Selectmen of the City of McComb City, Mississippi violated the property and liberty interests of the Hollywood Cemetery Association in rescinding Order No. 231:10/87.
2) Whether the City unlawfully interfered with the business and contracts of HCA by causing a detrimental financial impact upon HCA due to the loss of revenues for opening graves.
3) Whether the City has conceded the facts recited in HCA's Bill of Exceptions, and the City's Answer to the Bill of Exceptions should be disallowed by the Court.
4) Whether the City's repeal of HCA's right to open graves at the Hollywood Cemetery Amounted to a taking without just compensation.
5) Whether HCA is entitled to recover its attorneys' fees from the City.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. During the Great Depression, the City found that it could no longer pay for burying its dead in the idyllically named, city-owned Hollywood Cemetery. The City's financial embarrassments birthed the Hollywood Cemetery Association, established as a non-profit corporation on March 12, 1932:

Its purpose shall be to maintain, care for and beautify Hollywood Cemetery in the city of McComb city, Pike County, Mississippi, and to this end, it may collect dues from its membership, contract *717 for the special care of cemetery lots, receive aid and donations from any person or persons or from other sources and may employ labor and contract with same to perform such services as may be required in said cemetery, to carry out the purpose of this organization.

Constitution of Hollywood Cemetery Association.

¶ 3. The Hollywood Cemetery is owned by the City, which has sold and currently sells deeded lots to individuals. HCA, through dues collected and other income, including special care fees and fees generated from opening and closing of graves, has hired workers and maintained the cemetery for over 60 years providing the following services: (1) opening and closing of graves in the city cemeteries for privately owned funeral homes; (2) interring and disinterring bodies; (3) providing grave site maintenance for the owners of grave sites who have purchased perpetual care contracts (i.e., lump sum payment for perpetual grave site maintenance); and (4) providing grave site maintenance for the owners of grave sites who annually purchase Special Care Contracts.

¶ 4. Over time, problems began to develop regarding the maintenance of graves without perpetual care. HCA did not wish to care for these graves. Since neither HCA nor the progeny of the decedents cared to keep up these sites, the City was forced to assume these responsibilities— the expense to be borne by the taxpayers of the City.

¶ 5. The newer parts of the cemetery have lots that are only sold with perpetual care. The money received by the City from the sale of these lots is placed in a perpetual care trust and operated by the City. This new system implemented by the City does not affect the rights and responsibilities of prior perpetual care contracts entered into by HCA with individual gravesite owners.

¶ 6. The City addressed the issue of opening and closing graves in October, 1987. By order dated October 27, 1987, HCA was given written authority to open graves in city owned cemeteries. However, by order dated October 8, 1996, the city rescinded the October 27, 1987 order allowing HCA to open graves in all the city owned cemeteries and designated itself as the sole entity authorized to open and close graves. HCA complains that it derived a significant portion of its income from fees charged for opening and closing graves for private individuals and funeral homes, even though HCA had no separate agreement with these entities. This dispute over who could dig graves festered until February 18, 1997.

¶ 7. The Board of Mayor and Selectmen took up an HCA submitted settlement proposal and voted to disapprove the proposal on March 11, 1997. From that decision, a second bill of exceptions was taken by HCA. The trial court, acting as an appellate court, upheld the City's action. From that ruling HCA appeals to this Court.

ANALYSIS
1) Whether the City of McComb, Mississippi through the Board of Mayor and Selectmen of the City of McComb City, Mississippi violated property and liberty interests of the Hollywood Cemetery Association in rescinding Order No. 231:10/87 and whether the City's repeal of HCA's right to open graves at the Hollywood Cemetery Amounted to a taking without just compensation?
4) Whether the City's repeal of HCA's right to open graves at the Hollywood Cemetery Amounted to a taking without just compensation.

¶ 8. The scope of a reviewing court is limited in examining the actions of a municipal board. Such an order may not be set aside by a reviewing court unless it is clearly shown to be arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory or is illegal or without substantial evidentiary basis. Sunland Publishing Co. v. City of Jackson, 710 So.2d 879, 882 (Miss.1998) (citing City of *718 Jackson v. Capital Reporter Pub. Co., 373 So.2d 802, 807 (Miss.1979)).

¶ 9. In an appeal from the decision of a municipal authority, Miss.Code Ann. § 11-51-75 (1972) states that the person aggrieved may "embody the facts, judgment and decision in a bill of exceptions" which will be transmitted to the circuit court acting as an appellate court. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-51-75 (1972). The bill of exceptions serves as the record on appeal, and this Court has held that "[t]he circuit court can only consider the case as made by the bill of exceptions. This is the only record before the circuit court, as an appellate court." Stewart v. City of Pascagoula, 206 So.2d 325, 328 (Miss.1968). Having said that, we review the decidedly skeletal record in this case.

¶ 10. In order to simplify the issues, we combine HCA's first and fourth assignments of error.

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Bluebook (online)
760 So. 2d 715, 2000 Miss. LEXIS 72, 2000 WL 298719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hollywood-cemetery-assn-v-board-of-mayor-and-selectmen-miss-2000.