Texas Entertainment Ass'n v. Combs

431 S.W.3d 790, 2014 WL 1884267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5034
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 9, 2014
DocketNo. 03-12-00527-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 431 S.W.3d 790 (Texas Entertainment Ass'n v. Combs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Entertainment Ass'n v. Combs, 431 S.W.3d 790, 2014 WL 1884267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5034 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

SCOTT K. FIELD, Justice.

This case concerns the constitutionality of subchapter B of chapter 102 of the Business and Commerce Code, which requires certain sexually oriented businesses to pay the State an amount equal to $5 for each customer who is admitted into each business. See Tex. Bus. & Com.Code §§ 102.052-.056; see also Combs v. Texas Entm’t Ass’n, Inc., 287 S.W.3d 852, 856-57 (Tex.App.-Austin 2009, pet. granted) (discussing operation of sexually-oriented-business tax). On original submission, this Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment that this statute—which we refer to as the sexually-oriented-business tax—violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Texas Entm’t Ass’n, 287 S.W.3d at 863-64. The Texas Supreme Court reversed this Court’s judgment, concluded that the sexually-oriented-business tax does not violate the First Amendment, and remanded the case to the trial court to consider the plaintiffs’ state-law claims. See Combs v. Texas Entm’t Ass’n, Inc., 347 S.W.3d 277, 288 (Tex.2011).

On remand, the trial court concluded that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax that does not violate the Texas Constitution. Texas Entertainment Association, Inc. and Karpod, Inc. (collectively the TEA) brought this appeal, asserting that the sexually-oriented-business tax violates the Texas Constitution because (1) it is an occupation tax that fails to allocate 25% of its revenue to public schools; (2) it is not an equal and uniform tax; and (3) it is a prior restraint on free speech. On cross-appeal, Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts for the State of Texas, and Greg Abbott, Attorney General of the State of Texas (collectively, the Comptroller), assert that the trial court erred in concluding that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax. Because we conclude that the sexually-oriented-business tax is not an occupation tax, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in part and reverse and render in part.

[794]*794BACKGROUND

The history and structure of the sexually-oriented-business tax is fully discussed in the supreme court’s opinion and will be repeated here only as necessary to dispose of the issues in this appeal. See id. at 278-79. The sexually-oriented-business tax requires sexually oriented businesses to remit to the Comptroller an amount equal to $5 for each customer who is admitted into each business.1 See Tex. Bus. & Com.Code § 102.052(a). A sexually oriented business is defined as a “nightclub, bar, or similar commercial enterprise” that (1) features live nude entertainment for an audience of two or more and (2) allows the consumption of alcohol on the premises. Id. § 102.051(2); see also id. § 102.051(1) (defining “nude” for purposes of statute).

On remand to the trial court, the TEA primarily asserted that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax, and therefore 25% of its revenue must be allocated to public schools. See Tex. Const, art. VII, § 8(a). Given that the sexually-oriented-business-tax statute specifies that its revenue must be allocated to the “sexual assault program fund” and “health opportunity pool,” the TEA argued that the statute was an unconstitutional occupation tax. See Tex. Bus. & Com.Code §§ 102.054-.055(a); see also Conlen Grain & Mercantile, Inc. v. Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Bd., 519 S.W.2d 620, 627 n. 3 (Tex.1975) (Daniel, J., dissenting) (noting that party can challenge constitutionality of occupation tax on basis that tax fails to allocate 25% of revenue to public schools).

In response, the Comptroller argued that the sexually-oriented-business tax is a “general excise tax,” rather than an occupation tax, and thus there is no requirement that 25% of the revenue generated from the tax be allocated to public schools. See Blacks Law Dictionary 646 (7th ed. 1999) (defining excise tax as “tax imposed on the manufacture, sale, or use of goods (such as a cigarette tax), or on an occupation or activity (such as a license tax or an attorney occupation fee)”).2 Alternatively, the Comptroller asserted that if the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax, the article 7, section 3 requirement that 25% of the tax’s revenue go to public schools is “self-executing,” and therefore 25% of its funding should go to public schools regardless of whether that requirement is specifically expressed in the statute.

Following a bench trial, the trial court concluded that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax, but that the constitutional requirement that 25% of its [795]*795revenue be allocated to public schools is self-executing, and thus the tax is constitutional. The court held that the Comptroller has the authority to allocate 25% of the tax’s revenue to public schools and then allocate the remainder to the funds indicated in the statute. See Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 102.054-.055(a). The trial court also concluded that the sexually-oriented-business tax did not violate the Equal and Uniform Clause or Free Speech Clause of the Texas Constitution and denied the remainder of the TEA’S requested relief. See Tex. Const, art. I, § 8, art. VIII, §§ 1— 2. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

The TEA raises three issues on appeal. First, it asserts that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an occupation tax that is unconstitutional because it fails to allocate 25% of its revenue to public schools. Second, the TEA claims that the tax is not equal and uniform because it applies only to businesses that provide live nude entertainment to audiences of two or more. Lastly, the TEA argues that the sexually-oriented-business tax is an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech.

On cross-appeal, the Comptroller asserts that the sexually-oriented-business tax is a general excise tax, and thus there is no requirement that the 25% of its revenue be used for public schools. The Comptroller also asserts that Texas Entertainment Association, Inc. is jurisdictionally barred from this suit because it has not satisfied the requirements of chapter 112 of the Tax Code. We address the Comptroller’s second issue on cross-appeal first because it concerns the trial court’s jurisdiction over one of the parties to this appeal.

Sovereign Immunity

In its second issue on cross-appeal, the Comptroller asserts that Texas Entertainment Association, Inc., as an organization that is not subject to the sexually-oriented-business tax, is barred from participating in this appeal because chapter 112 of the Tax Code requires a party challenging a tax to file a protest payment.3 See Tex. Tax Code § 112.051. We addressed and rejected this argument in our previous opinion, concluding that “[djeclaratory-judgment actions against state officials challenging the constitutionality of a statute do not implicate the sovereign-immunity doctrine because they are not considered suits against the State.” Texas Entm’t Ass’n, 287 S.W.3d at 865 (internal quotations omitted), rev’d on other grounds, 347 S.W.3d at 288.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
431 S.W.3d 790, 2014 WL 1884267, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-entertainment-assn-v-combs-texapp-2014.