Citizens for Financially Responsible Government v. City of Spokane
| Citation | 662 P.2d 845,99 Wn.2d 339 |
| Decision Date | 21 April 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 47859-7,47859-7 |
| Parties | CITIZENS FOR FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, a Political Action Committee, and Larry Stanley, Individually, Appellants, v. CITY OF SPOKANE, A First Class City; Ron Bair, Mayor; Terry L. Novak, City Manager; James C. Sloane, Corporation Counsel; Marilyn Montgomery, City Clerk; City Council of Spokane, Respondents. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Washington |
Hemovich & Nappi, Michael Hemovich, Jonathan C. Rascoff, Spokane, for appellants.
James C. Sloane, Corp. Counsel, Patrick Dalton, Thomas F. Kingen, Asst. Corp. Counsels, Spokane, for respondents.
The main question is whether a city ordinance enacting a business and occupation (B & O) tax is subject to referendum. It is.
A group of Spokane citizens sought a writ of mandamus to compel the City of Spokane to accept for filing certain referendum petitions. The purpose of the petitions was the repeal of, or in the alternative, a referendum of city ordinance C-25792, an ordinance relating to and providing for a B & O tax upon businesses, occupational pursuits and privileges within the city. The city clerk refused to accept the petitions for filing because of the city attorney's opinion that ordinance C-25792 was not subject to referendum.
The trial court denied the plaintiffs' application for writ of mandamus to compel the clerk to accept the petitions. The court concluded that the ordinance was not subject to referendum on three grounds: (1) the exercise of municipal taxing power was limited under article 11, section 12 of the Washington State Constitution to legislative bodies and was not a power vested in the electorate; (2) the ordinance was administrative rather than legislative in nature; and (3) the ordinance was exempt from referendum under article 2, section 1(b) of the Washington State Constitution as necessary to support state government. The case was certified to this court by the Court of Appeals on the issue of whether or not ordinance C-25792 is subject to referendum. We disagree with each of the trial court's conclusions and reverse.
The facts of this case are not in dispute. Ordinance C-25792 was passed in 1980. It is a license tax for the purpose of revenue upon all occupations and trades and all and every kind of business authorized by law to be made subject to a municipal B & O tax. The ordinance levies a tax for the act or privilege of engaging in business activities in amounts to be determined by application of the rates set forth in the ordinance to the gross income of the business. The ordinance was enacted by the Spokane City Council by a vote of 7 to 3. A month later, the ordinance was amended by ordinance C-25832.
Prior to passage of ordinance C-25792 in 1980 no such tax, with one exception, had been imposed on all businesses; the exception was in 1971 when a broadly based B & O tax was imposed to provide funds for the Expo '74 World Exposition. This was expressly represented to the city voters as a "one-time tax". A license or occupation tax had been imposed by the City of Spokane on telephone, telegraph, electricity, steam, and communication companies since 1934.
Shortly after the enactment of ordinance C-25792, Citizens for Financially Responsible Government, an organization composed of businessmen of the city of Spokane and other interested citizens, began circulating petitions calling for the repeal of the ordinance by the city council, or for a referendum election pursuant to section 83 of the Charter of the City of Spokane. These petitions, containing about 19,000 signatures, were delivered to the city clerk of Spokane for filing. The corporation counsel advised the city clerk that ordinance C-25792 was not subject to referendum, and that the petitions should therefore be refused for filing. Thereafter, Citizens for Financially Responsible Government sought a writ of mandamus directing the city clerk to accept the tendered referendum petitions.
The first issue is whether the power to enact and repeal B & O taxes rests solely with the elected officials of Spokane or whether this power is shared with the electorate by means of referendum. We hold that the right of referendum for taxing ordinances is established in Spokane's city charter and this right is not restricted by any limitations contained in the Washington State Constitution or the general laws enacted by the state Legislature.
Article 1, section 4 of the Spokane City Charter provides:
All power of the city, unless otherwise provided in this Charter, shall be exercised by the mayor, city council and city manager. They shall be subject to the control and direction of the people at all times by the initiative, referendum and recall provided for in this Charter.
Article 9, section 83 of the Spokane City Charter sets forth the procedure to be followed in subjecting an ordinance to the referendum process. 1 The charter is perfectly clear. No limitations on the right to referendum are specified therein or in other sections of the charter. Citizens for Financially Responsible Government followed the proper procedure in its attempt to file the petitions against ordinance C-25792. The City of Spokane contends, however, that the right to referendum in this context is limited by state law.
The general rule is municipalities possess, with respect to taxation, only such power as has been granted to them by the constitution or the general laws of the state. 16 E. McQuillin, Municipal Corporations, § 44.05 (3d ed. 1981). Where there is a conflict between a general law enacted by the state Legislature and any charter provision, the general law is superior to and supersedes the charter provisions. State ex rel. Guthrie v. Richland, 80 Wash.2d 382, 384, 494 P.2d 990 (1972). Our state laws do not, however, conflict with Spokane's referendum provisions.
RCW 35.22.280 enumerates the broad powers delegated by the Legislature to first class cities, stating in pertinent part:
Any city of the first class shall have power:
* * *
(32) To grant licenses for any lawful purpose, and to fix by ordinance the amount to be paid therefor, and to provide for revoking the same ...
Cities of the first class are also granted all of the powers that are granted by RCW Title 35 and those that are usually exercised by municipal corporations of like character and degree. RCW 35.22.570. Such grants of power to first class cities are to be liberally construed to carry out the objectives of RCW 35.22. RCW 35.22.900. Thus, there is clear legislative authority for cities to enact a tax such as that in ordinance C-25792. The authority to tax is given to the city in general, not exclusively to the legislative body. Therefore, we conclude the Legislature has not sought to limit the referendum right of citizens of first class cities in the context of taxing and licensing ordinances.
The City contends, however, that the Washington State Constitution prohibits referendums on taxes at the municipal level. It interprets article 11, section 12 of the constitution as limiting the power to tax to the legislative authorities of the city, i.e., the mayor and city council, thus forbidding that this power be exercised directly by the people through their right to referendum. The City argues that the state constitution supersedes the general legislative grant of taxing authority and limits the taxation power to legislative bodies.
Article 11, section 12 of the Washington State Constitution states:
The legislature shall have no power to impose taxes upon counties, cities, towns or other municipal corporations, or upon the inhabitants or property thereof, for county, city, town, or other municipal purposes, but may, by general laws, vest in the corporate authorities thereof, the power to assess and collect taxes for such purposes.
(Italics ours.) The issue is whether the reference to "corporate authorities" is meant to restrict taxing power exclusively to legislative bodies or is a general reference to the corporate entity, including the electorate.
This court has repeatedly recognized the distinction between a grant of authority by the legislature to a city as a corporate entity and to its legislative and other corporate authorities.
State ex rel. Haas v. Pomeroy, 50 Wash.2d 23, 25, 308 P.2d 684 (1957).
In the context of statutory interpretation, we have previously held that a city's "corporate authority", also referred to as a "legislative authority", means exclusively the mayor and city council. State ex rel. Haas v. Pomeroy, supra (); State ex rel. Walker v. Superior Court, 87 Wash. 582, 152 P. 11 (1915) (); Neils v. Seattle, 185 Wash. 269, 53 P.2d 848 (1936) (); State ex rel. Bowen v. Kruegel 7 Wash.2d 673, 409 P.2d 458 (1965) (). Therefore, a statutory grant of power to a legislative authority does not generally permit delegation to the voters through an initiative or referendum. Neils v. Seattle, 185 Wash. 269, 277, 53 P.2d 848 (1936) and cases cited therein. Here, however, the statutory grant is to "[a]ny city of the first class". (Italics ours.) RCW 35.22.280. Therefore, this line of cases focusing on statutory grants of authority is not germane.
In a constitutional context, the phrase "legislative authority" has not been restrictively interpreted by this court. In State ex rel. Linn v. Superior Court, 20 Wash.2d 138, 155, 146 P.2d 543 (1944) we held that the phrase "legislative authority", as used in the constitutional provision being examined, "includes the voters acting by way of an initiative or referendum". In Linn, our cases which interpreted "legislative authority" otherwise were expressly distinguished:
Several of our decisions ... reviewed at length in Neils v. Seattle, 185 Wash. 269, 53 P. (2d) 848, refer to the phrase...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
O'Day v. King County
...article 2, section 1, which does not apply to municipal governments such as King County. Citizens for Financially Responsible Government v. Spokane, 99 Wash.2d 339, 348-49, 662 P.2d 845 (1983). In any event, our recent decision in State v. Hayes, 108 Wash.2d 344, 738 P.2d 276 (1987) preclud......
- State v. Chervenell
-
Harbour Village Apts. v. City of Mukilteo
...is liberally construed to carry out the objectives of chapter 35.22 RCW. RCW 35.22.900; Citizens for Financially Responsible Gov't v. City of Spokane, 99 Wash.2d 339, 343-44, 662 P.2d 845 (1983). Such liberal construction should apply to 10. Other jurisdictions have specifically held rentin......
-
City of Wenatchee, Corp. v. Chelan Cnty. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1, Corp.
...municipalities to control local taxation for local purposes.” Id. at 756 n. 3, 131 P.3d 892;Citizens for Financially Responsible Gov't v. City of Spokane, 99 Wash.2d 339, 346, 662 P.2d 845 (1983) (“The focus of article 11, section 12 is to restrict the State from imposing taxes on municipal......