James Craig CARLOCK, Individually and as a Representative of a Class of Persons Similarly Situated, Appellant
v.
The CITY OF BLYTHEVILLE, Arkansas, Appellee
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APPEAL
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, CHICKASAWBA
DISTRICT [NO. 47BCV-14-145], HONORABLE RICHARD LUSBY, JUDGE
Law
Offices of Harris & Morrison, by: James W. Harris, and
Zachary W. Morrison, Blytheville, for appellant.
William
Clark Mann III, Little Rock, for appellee.
OPINION
ROBIN
F. WYNNE, Associate Justice
James
Craig Carlock, individually and as a representative of a
class of persons similarly situated, appeals from an order of
the Mississippi County Circuit Court dismissing his
illegal-exaction complaint against the City of Blytheville,
Arkansas. He argues on appeal that the trial court should
have been permitted to look beyond the wording of the
enabling ordinance and ballot title in determining whether
tax money is being spent for an approved purpose. He contends
that case law from this court to the contrary should either
be overruled or not applied in this case. We affirm.
For a
period of time, the City stopped paying payroll and
employment taxes to the federal government. In 2011, the
Internal Revenue Service made a demand for payment of the
unpaid taxes. In December 2011, the City passed an ordinance
proposing a temporary one-cent sales and use tax to be
collected for fifteen months. The City passed a second
ordinance calling for a special election to be held on the
proposed tax on March 13, 2012.
The
ballot title for the proposed tax stated,
The Sales and Use Tax shall be levied and the net collections
received used by the City to pay and remit federal and state
income tax withholdings, employer and employee FICA and
Medicare payroll tax contributions, federal and state
employment tax contributions, and other amounts due and
payable by the City to federal and state authorities in
connection therewith.
The
proposed tax was approved at the special election. The tax
generated $3,519,296.57 in revenue. The City paid the federal
government $2,947,853.05 to settle its tax obligation. After
the debt was satisfied, the City continued to collect the tax
for the last two months of the fifteen-month
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enactment period. A total of $571,443.52 in revenue remained
after the debt was satisfied. Those funds were placed in a
separate ...