Home/E.D. California/Yosemite Tenants Ass'n. v. Clark

Yosemite Tenants Ass'n. v. Clark

582 F. Supp. 1342
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMarch 22, 1984
DocketCV F 83-357-EDP
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 582 F. Supp. 1342 (Yosemite Tenants Ass'n. v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yosemite Tenants Ass'n. v. Clark, 582 F. Supp. 1342 (E.D. Cal. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION RE PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.

PRICE, District Judge.

The plaintiffs, an unincorporated association, and Jay Johnson, an individual acting in his own behalf and on behalf of persons similarly situated, seek to enjoin, pending the resolution of this matter on its merits, certain rental increases that have been assessed the residents of Yosemite National Park occupying living quarters owned and furnished by the United States government. The plaintiffs’ motion involves complex issues of law, and the Court has been hampered by a paucity of evidence that has been introduced by the parties that is material to the central legal issues underlying this dispute. 2

I

Statutory Background

In 1966, as part of the codification of the general and permanent laws relating to the organization of the government of the United States and its civilian officers and employees, the Congress passed 5 U.S.C. § 5911, which reads as follows:

(a) For the purpose of this section—
(1) “Government” means the Government of the United States;
(2) “agency” means an Executive agency, but does not include the Tennessee Valley Authority;
(3) “employee” means an employee of an agency;
(4) “United States” means the several States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and possession of the United States including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(5) “quarters” means quarters owned or leased by the Government; and
(6) “facilities” means household furniture and equipment, garage space, utilities, subsistence, and laundry service.
(c) Rental rates for quarters provided for an employee under subsection (b) of this section or occupied on a rental basis by an employee or member of a uniformed service under any other provision of státute, and charges for facilities made available and in connection with the occupancy of the quarters, shall be based on the reasonable value of the quarters and facilities to the employee or member concerned, in the circumstances under which the quarters and facilities are provided, occupied, or made available. The amounts and the rates and charges shall be paid by, or deducted from the pay of, the employee or member of a uniformed service, or otherwise charged against him in accordance with law. The amounts of payroll deductions for the rates and charges shall remain in the applicable appropriation or fund. When payment of the rates and charges is made by other than payroll deductions, the amounts of payment shall be credited to the Government as provided by law. (d) When, as an incidental service in support of a program of the Government, quarters and facilities are provided by appropriate authority of the Government to an individual other than an employee or member of a uniformed service, the rates and charges therefor shall be deter *1345 mined in accordance with this section. The amounts of payment of the rates and charges shall be credited to the Government as provided by law.
(e) The head of an agency may not require an employee or member of a uniformed service to occupy quarters on a rental basis, unless the agency head determines that necessary service cannot be rendered, or that property of the Government cannot adequately be protected, otherwise.
(f) The President may prescribe regulations governing the provision, occupancy, and availability of quarters and facilities, the determination of rates and charges therefor, and other related matters, necessary and appropriate to carry out this section. The head of each agency may prescribe regulations, not inconsistent with the regulations of the President, necessary and appropriate to carry out the functions of the agency head under this section, (emphasis added)

Congress did not, at any time, file any committee reports or indicate a purpose other than state that Public Law 89-544, § 1 was a part of the general effort to bring together into a single code all of the permanent laws relating to the organization of the government of the United States and pertaining to its civilian officers and employees. Significantly, this section has not been construed by any appellate court of the United States in a reported decision.

By Executive Order No. 11609 of July 22, 1971, the authority of the President under subsection (f) to issue the regulations provided for therein was delegated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (hereinafter OMB).

II

The Regulatory Scheme And Its Prior Implementation in Yosemite

The OMB designated Circular No. A-45, as revised, as the appropriate document setting forth the policies governing charges for rental quarters and related facilities. In 1973, the Department of the Interior adopted regulations governing the establishment of quarters rental rates. Generally, these regulations flesh out declarations of policy as contained in OMB Circular No. A-45, revised.

Appendix 1, OMB Circular A-45, provides as follows:

2. Frequency of Adjustment. Charges for rental quarters shall be adjusted periodically in accordance with the following:
(a) Periodic (Cycle Year) Adjustments Based on Survey of the Private Rental Market. Basic rental rates established for rental quarters shall be affirmed or adjusted by survey of the . private rental market, as follows: (1) Ev.ery fifth year, or when the basic rental rate for quarters has been increased by 10% through application of the rent series of the U.S. city average (national average CPI), whichever occurs first, provided that valid and realistic comparability has been established with private rental rates, or (2) every third year if for any valid reason and realistic comparability with private rental rates has not been established, or (3) any year when changes in the private rental market in the nearby established community indicate a need to adjust basic rental rates on the basis of a survey of the rental market.

OMB Circular A-45 also provides that when the government furnished quarters (GFQ) were located more than five miles from an established community, 3 basic *1346 rental rates will be set by one of two alternate methods:

(1) Comparability with the nearby representative private community. Rental rates in and adjacent to the nearby representative private community 4 may be used as a base for establishing comparable rentals.

(2) Regional basis.

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Related

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616 S.E.2d 790 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
582 F. Supp. 1342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yosemite-tenants-assn-v-clark-caed-1984.