Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee v. Williamson County

304 S.W.3d 812, 2010 Tenn. LEXIS 104, 2010 WL 653310
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 25, 2010
DocketM2008-00835-SC-R11-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 304 S.W.3d 812 (Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee v. Williamson County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee v. Williamson County, 304 S.W.3d 812, 2010 Tenn. LEXIS 104, 2010 WL 653310 (Tenn. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION

SHARON G. LEE, J,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which JANICE M. HOLDER, C.J., CORNELIA A. CLARK, and WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JJ., joined. GARY R. WADE, J., filed a separate dissenting opinion.

This appeal involves a question of law concerning the interpretation of the Williamson County Adequate Facilities Tax Act, which imposes a privilege tax based upon the gross square footage of new construction in Williamson County. In 2005, the County notified certain builders of new residential construction that a review for the period from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2003, indicated that the builders owed an additional amount of privilege tax because the actual square footage of the completed construction was greater than the projected square footage at the time the privilege tax was paid. The builders objected to payment of the additional privilege tax and filed an action for declaratory judgment, contending that the County’s belated collection attempts were in derogation of the Act. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the County, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. We accepted this case for review to determine whether, after the privilege tax is paid based upon the projected square footage of new development before construction, the County is authorized to collect an additional privilege tax after construction based upon the actual completed square footage. We hold that after the County collects the privilege tax based upon the projected square footage, the language of the Act prohibits the County from later collecting additional privilege taxes based upon the actual square footage of the completed project. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, vacate the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the County, grant summary judgment in favor of the builders, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings as necessary.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Anticipating continued rapid economic growth and the significant demand for new facilities due to the location of a General Motors Saturn plant in Williamson County [815]*815(“the County”) and a continued expansion of the Nashville metropolitan area, the County sought to impose a privilege tax on new development in order to offset its cost of providing capital facilities made necessary by such development. Responding to the request in 1987, the General Assembly enacted, and the County ratified, the Williamson County Adequate Facilities Act, ch. 118, 1987 Tenn. Priv. Acts 288 (the “Act”). The Act authorized the County to impose a privilege tax on all new construction within its boundaries.

The intent and purpose of the Act, as provided in section 3 of the Act, was to authorize the County to impose a tax on new development,

payable at the time of issuance of a building permit or certificate of occupancy so as to ensure and require that the persons responsible for new development share in the burdens of growth by paying their fair share for the cost of new and expanded public facilities made necessary by such development.

As originally enacted, section 8 of the Act provided that

[t]he tax established in this act shall be collected at the time of application for a building permit for development ... or, if a building permit is not required, at the time of application for a certificate of occupancy by the county or city official duly authorized in such jurisdiction to issue building permits or certificates of occupancy.

Section 8 was later amended in 1989 to delete the reference to the certificate of occupancy and at the time of trial, provided that “[t]he tax established in this act shall be collected at the time of application for a building permit for development.” Aet of March 13, 1989, ch. 22, § 3, 1989 Tenn. Priv. Acts 59, 60.

After the Act’s passage, the County began collecting the privilege tax. The amount of privilege tax collected was based upon the gross square footage of residential and nonresidential development.1 The privilege tax was collected differently based upon whether construction was in an unincorporated or incorporated area of the county. For new development in the unincorporated areas of the county, the builder was required to submit two sets of plans to the County’s building department, along with an application for the building permit. The application for the building permit required the builder to state the square footage of each part of the planned residence. The application and plans were then reviewed by a six-person committee, representing the County’s planning department, septic department, building codes department, zoning department, engineering department, and highway department. Upon the committee’s approval of the submitted documents, the County issued the builder a building permit, and at that time, the privilege tax was paid, based upon the square footage of the residence as set forth in the building permit application. If the residence was to be built in one of the municipalities in the county, the builder was required to submit one set of plans and a privilege tax form, and the tax was paid at the time these documents were submitted based upon the square footage the builder had provided on the privilege tax form. Consequently, in all areas of the county, the privilege tax was calculated based upon the projected square footage of the new construction.

In 2004, the County reviewed the privilege tax payments remitted from January [816]*8161, 1998, through December 31, 2003. The review indicated that in some cases, the actual square footage of the completed residential construction was greater then the projected square footage stated in the building permit application or privilege tax form, and accordingly, the County deemed that an additional amount of privilege tax was owed.2 In March of 2005, the County notified various homebuilders who had paid the privilege tax between 1998 and 2003 that it would be seeking recovery of additional amounts of privilege tax representing the discrepancy between the projected square footage and the actual square footage.

On March 22, 2005, Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee, an organization of home developers in the business of constructing residential housing in Williamson County, and two of its members, McLeod Custom Builders LLC and Turn-berry Homes LLC,3 filed a declaratory judgment action in the Chancery Court for Williamson County against the County’s mayor and budget director. By subsequent amendment, the mayor and budget director were dismissed as defendants, and the County and its Board of Adjustments and Appeals were added as defendants. The complaint contended that the County’s pending attempts to collect additional funds based upon the square footage discrepancy were in derogation of the legislature’s intent that the tax be collected at the time the homebuilder obtains a building permit and not thereafter. The complaint requested that the trial court construe the Act and determine the legality of the County’s actions in this regard.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
304 S.W.3d 812, 2010 Tenn. LEXIS 104, 2010 WL 653310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-builders-association-of-middle-tennessee-v-williamson-county-tenn-2010.