International Paper Co. v. Hilton

685 So. 2d 567, 1996 WL 710908
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 11, 1996
Docket96-212
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 685 So. 2d 567 (International Paper Co. v. Hilton) 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
International Paper Co. v. Hilton, 685 So. 2d 567, 1996 WL 710908 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

685 So.2d 567 (1996)

INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Sheriff William Earl HILTON, etc., et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 96-212.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 11, 1996.
Writ Denied March 7, 1997.

*568 Harry Brenner Sadler, John Patrick Doggett, Alexandria, for International Paper Company.

W. Bernard Kramer, Alexandria, for Sheriff William Earl Hilton, etc., et al.

Thomas Wells, Alexandria, for Rapides Parish Police Jury.

Before DOUCET, C.J., and SAUNDERS, WOODARD, SULLIVAN and GREMILLION, JJ.

GREMILLION, Judge.

Defendants, Rapides Parish Sheriff William Earl Hilton and Assessor Ralph Gill, and the intervenor, Rapides Parish Police Jury, appeal a summary judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff, International Paper Company, in its suit for the refund of ad valorem taxes, assessed for the benefit of Fire Protection District Number 4. International Paper paid these taxes under protest. The trial court held that the Fire Protection District Number 4 did not possess the jurisdiction necessary to assess and, in fact, illegally assessed International Paper's "industrial area" for ad valorem taxes. The trial court ordered Sheriff Hilton to refund to International Paper the $123,740.23 it had paid under protest. The trial court also denied International Paper's motion for summary judgment on its claim for taxes paid under protest which were levied by the Kolin-Ruby Wise Waterworks District. This separate determination is not before this court on appeal.

Sheriff Hilton, Assessor Gill, and the Police Jury (Appellants) maintain that the trial court erred in the following particulars:

(1) Considering legally unauthenticated evidence and evidence prepared after the date of the hearing on the motion for summary judgment;
(2) Finding that Fire Protection District Number 4 is a "newly created special service district" as contemplated by La.R.S. 33:130.16;
(3) Finding that International Paper is not estopped from challenging the taxing power of Fire Protection District Number 4;
(4) Finding that International Paper is not required to furnish all services listed in La.R.S. 33:130.15 to be entitled to the benefit of La.R.S. 33:130.16; and
(5) Failing to find that La.R.S. 33:130.16 creates a tax exemption which is not authorized under the State Constitution of 1974.

For the following reasons, we conclude that the trial court improperly granted summary judgment in this case. Therefore, we reverse and remand the matter for further proceedings.

FACTS

Prior to signing the judgment, the learned trial judge issued written reasons for judgment on August 30, 1995. The portion of *569 these thorough reasons which are pertinent to the issues raised on appeal are as follows:

This action arises out of the Petition of International Paper Company (IP) to recover ad valorem taxes paid under protest for the year 1994. The protested taxes were levied, respectively, by Rapides Parish Fire Protection District No. 4 ($123,740.23) and Kolin-Ruby Wise Waterworks District No. 11A ($35,084.72).
Both of these districts are special service districts created by the Police Jury of Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Prior to 1994 the taxes of these two districts, though levied, were not assessed to IP whose property lay within the boundaries of an Industrial Area created by the Rapides Parish Police Jury on November [1]3, 1973. This was based on La. R.S. 33:130.18 which provided an immunity from new taxes levied by a Special Service District to any property in the District which was within the boundaries of a designated Industrial Area[.] In 1994 the Louisiana Supreme Court declared 33:130.18 unconstitutional in that the Legislature had created a "tax exemption" not permitted under the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. In Re: Pitre 630 So.2d 700 (La.1994) (rehearing denied February 10, 1994). Following this decision, the Assessor of Rapides Parish assessed IP for the annual taxes of these two special service districts.
To understand the issues involved a review of the law enabling parish governing authorities to create Industrial Areas and the effects thereof must be reviewed. These laws are included in La. R.S. 33:130.11 through 130.18, inclusive. Sections 130.11 through 130.14 generally provide for the procedure for creating such areas and their exclusive use by facilities that are industrial in character. Section 130.15 requires the industry or industries in an Industrial Area to provide and maintain the services normally provided by parish or local governments, enumerating . . . "the construction and cleaning of streets, street lighting, sewers and sewerage works, water service, fire protection, and garbage and refuse collection and disposal." Where these are provided in a designated Industrial Area, it ... "shall not be subject to annexation." (130.15)

Section 130.16 simply provides as follows:

"No portion of an Industrial Area may be included within any newly created special service district furnishing any of the services enumerated in R.S. 33:130.15." (Emphasis supplied)
Obviously, the primary purpose of RS 33:130.15 and 130.16 is not to offer tax incentives or to grant immunity or exemptions from taxation, but to prevent those industries which provide their own utilities and other customary public services from being subsequently annexed into or included within any entity which also provides these services.
Section 130.18, which was considered by the Supreme Court in Pitre, covers an entirely different situation. Under that section, if an Industrial Area is created within the territory of a pre-existing special service district which furnishes any of those services required of industries under 33:130.15, then, the territory of the Industrial Area continues to be subject to the previously levied taxes of the special service district. Obviously the purpose of this is to not undermine the tax base of the special service district by excluding property previously included within its boundaries. However, Section 130.18 goes on to provide that ... "no new tax levied by such special service district shall apply to any territory within an Industrial Area..." (emphasis supplied) In Re: Pitre held that this language created a tax exemption to property within the boundaries of the special service district, and accordingly, was unconstitutional. Obviously, finding section 130.18 unconstitutional because of an impermissible tax exemption does not render sections 130.15 and 130.16 unconstitutional as these sections grant no immunity from taxation.
In the instant case it is undisputed that the territory of the Industrial Area in question lies within the present boundaries of both of these special service districts. The inquiry at this point is whether or not the territory of the Industrial Area was included in the boundaries of a subsequently *570 created special service district, which is prohibited under section 130.16, or was included in an pre-existing special district at the time it was created, which would fall within the Pitre decision. The Court will consider each district individually.
RAPIDES PARISH FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 4
This District was first created on April 12, 1966.

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Bluebook (online)
685 So. 2d 567, 1996 WL 710908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-paper-co-v-hilton-lactapp-1996.