National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. v. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

30 Va. Cir. 283, 1993 Va. Cir. LEXIS 71
CourtFairfax County Circuit Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1993
DocketCase No. (Law) 118982
StatusPublished

This text of 30 Va. Cir. 283 (National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. v. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Fairfax County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. v. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 30 Va. Cir. 283, 1993 Va. Cir. LEXIS 71 (Va. Super. Ct. 1993).

Opinion

By Judge Gerald Bruce lee

This matter comes before the Court on the Board of Supervisors’ Demurrer to Counts I, V, and VI of the Petition for Declaratory Order and Application for Correction of Erroneous Assessment of Plaintiff, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (“CFC”). Having considered the arguments and memoranda of counsel and for the reasons stated below, the Court sustains the County’s demurrer.

Facts

CFC is a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia. Petition For Declaration Order and Application For Correction Of Erroneous Assessment at para. 1. CFC is exempt from federal taxation as a non-profit entity under the Internal Revenue Code. Id. CFC was formed by a group of non-profit rural utility cooperatives. Id. at para. 7.

CFC was created to obtain capital for its members at a lower cost than the members would be able to obtain for themselves. Id. at para. 9. CFC borrows capital and lends it to members at a lower rate of interest. Id. at para. 10. CFC uses interest on the loans to repay principal and interest on the funds borrowed by CFC and to cover its operating expenses. Id. If CFC receives interest in excess of its actual [284]*284operating expenses and costs, it allocates the excess, on a pro rata basis, back to individual members. Id. CFC’s activities in Fairfax County are only administrative. Id. at para. 11. CFC documents loans and accepts loan applications in the County. Id. Funding and repayment occur outside of Virginia. Id. Of CFC’s gross receipts, only a fraction actually has resulted from loans made while CFC was located in Fairfax county. Id. In October 1989, CFC relocated its headquarters from the District of Columbia to Fairfax County, id. at para. 8. At that time, CFC requested Fairfax County to determine whether CFC was exempt from the County’s Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax. Id. at para. 16. By letter dated November 5,1990, the County rejected CFC’s request for exemption. Id. at para. 17. Significantly the Supervisor of Assessments found that:

[T]he issue of profit is inconsequential .... It is our factual determination that despite the lack of profit, CFC does earn a livelihood through its transactions. Debts are covered, operating expenses and employee salaries are paid, and the corporate entity sustains its existence through its financial structure to continue the service of providing a ready source of affordable loans.

Id.

In 1990, the County assessed $233,431.03 against CFC at a rate of twenty cents per one hundred dollars of alleged gross receipts. Id. at para. 18. This was the rate applicable to business services under the BPOL tax. Id. The county reclassified CFC as a money lender, and CFC received a credit on its 1991 estimated BPOL tax liability. Id. at para. 19. For the 1991 tax year, the County assessed CFC’s BPOL tax liability at $643,858.28. Id. at para. 20.

The County BPOL tax assessment against. CFC includes revenue from loans that CFC made while it was headquartered in the District of Columbia. For example, in the 1991 tax assessment, CFC was assessed the above amount on gross receipts totalling $402,411,424. Id. at para. 13. However, in that year, CFC received only $3,025,167.20 in interest from loans or lines of credit placed while it was in the County. Id.

After making demands upon the County to change its BPOL tax assessment, CFC filed its Petition on October 6, 1992. Count I of the Petition challenges the BPOL tax assessment under Va. Code § 58.1-3984, Count V challenges the constitutionality of the BPOL tax [285]*285assessment under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, and Count VI challenges the constitutionality of the County’s BPOL tax assessment under the Dillon Rule. The County demurs as to each of these counts.

Discussion

The Court sustains the demurrer. As an initial matter, the Court notes that the function of a demurrer is to test whether the pleadings state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted, and a demurrer admits as true all allegations of material facts which are well pleaded. Penick v. Dekker, 228 Va. 161, 319 S.E.2d 760 (1984).

Count I

In Count I, CFC pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3984 (Rep. Vol. 1991) challenges the County’s determination that CFC is subject to the BPOL tax. Under § 58.1-3984, the taxpayer has the burden of showing that the assessment is erroneous or unlawful. Here CFC challenges the county’s assessment of the BPOL tax by alleging that it is not “engaged in business” as defined under Code § 58.1-3703, the section of tiie Code authorizing counties to levy license taxes. In the alternative, CFC alleges that the determination of BPOL tax liability is a factual matter and that the County erroneously failed to consider controlling evidence.

The Virginia Supreme Court has defined “engaged in business” as it is used at common law and under § 58.1-3703 to mean “a course of dealing which requires the time, attention and labor of the person so engaged for the purpose of earning a livelihood or a profit.” Young v. Town of Vienna, 203 Va. 265, 267, 123 S.E.2d 388, 390 (1962) (emphasis added). In Virginia v. Wytheville Knitting Mills Employees Welfare Assoc., 195 Va. 663, 79 S.E.2d 621 (1954), the Court held that a canteen using its excess revenue for the welfare of employees was subject to tax regardless of its non-profit nature. The Court held that “[t]he legislature has not exempted charitable organizations engaged in business . . . and there is nothing to indicate that it has intended to exempt an association similar to that of petitioners.” Id. at 670, 79 S.E.2d at 625. See also 1989 Ops. Att’y Gen. 311 (opining that fees collected by a non-profit organization from attendees at seminar are subject to a BPOL tax); 1986-87 Ops. Att’y Gen. 261 (opining that a [286]*286civil-organization tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Code may be subject to a local BPOL tax).

In this case, CFC’s Petition alleges that it is a non-profit corporation under the Internal Revenue Code that uses its tax-exempt status and financial stability to lend money to its members at below-maricet interest rates. CFC uses the interest it receives to pay administrative expenses and to retire debt. It returns excess interest to the members. The facts pleaded do not indicate that the County unlawfully assessed the BPOL tax against CFC. On the contrary, the facts demonstrate that CFC is engaged in a course of dealing that requires it to expend time and labor to maintain itself as an entity. This case cannot be distinguished from Wytheville Knitting Mills or from those instances in which the Attorney General has opined that certain non-profit organizations are subject to BPOL tax assessments.

Furthermore, CFC contends that the Supervisor disregarded controlling evidence in assessing the BPOL tax. Under Code § 58.1-3984, CFC has the burden of showing that the Supervisor erred.

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Related

Broadrick v. Oklahoma
413 U.S. 601 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady
430 U.S. 274 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Young v. Town of Vienna
123 S.E.2d 388 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1962)
Commonwealth v. Wytheville Knitting Mills Employees Welfare Ass'n
79 S.E.2d 621 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1954)
Short Bros. v. Arlington County
423 S.E.2d 172 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1992)
Suddarth v. Slane
539 F. Supp. 612 (W.D. Virginia, 1982)
Penick v. Dekker
319 S.E.2d 760 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
30 Va. Cir. 283, 1993 Va. Cir. LEXIS 71, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-rural-utilities-cooperative-finance-corp-v-fairfax-county-board-vaccfairfax-1993.