Citizens Organized for Sensible Taxation (C.O.S.T.) v. St. Landry Parish School Bd.

• Citation: 528 So.2d 1048,47 Ed. Law Rep. 1291
• Decision Date: 22 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-592,87-592
• Parties: CITIZENS ORGANIZED FOR SENSIBLE TAXATION (C.O.S.T.), Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ST. LANDRY PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al., Defendants-Appellees. 528 So.2d 1048, 47 Ed. Law Rep. 1291
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1048

528 So.2d 1048

CITIZENS ORGANIZED FOR SENSIBLE TAXATION (C.O.S.T.), Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ST. LANDRY PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al.,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-592.

528 So.2d 1048, 47 Ed. Law Rep. 1291

Court of Appeal of Louisiana,

Third Circuit.

June 22, 1988.

Darryl J. Hebert, Eunice, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Young & Burson, I.J. Burson, Jr., Eunice, Fred Benton, Jr., Baton Rouge, for defendants-appellees.

Before DOMENGEAUX, STOKER and KING, JJ.

KING, Judge.

The sole issue presented on appeal is whether or not the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff's suit.

The Citizens Organized For Sensible Taxation, an unincorporated association of residents of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana (hereinafter plaintiffs), filed suit for a writ of mandamus against the St. Landry Parish School Board, its Superintendent of Schools, Henry DeMay, and its individual members, Bufort Godeau, Joshua J. Pitre, John Miller, Jack D. Ortego, Jackie S. Beard, Ronald Carriere, G.R. Breaux, Jr., Dale Richard, Patty S. Prather, Gilbert Austin, Jr., Chester Wimberly, Clifton T. Clause, Jr., and Clifford A. Broussard, Jr. (hereinafter defendants), alleging that the defendants had no responsible, competent or reasonable plan for consolidation, construction, and improvement of educational facilities in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana which would justify the assessment of ad valorem taxes and sought to compel defendants to adopt such a plan. The suit was initiated after a proposition to the registered voters of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana was approved on a May 3, 1986 ballot, authorizing defendants to issue bonds for the purpose of enlarging and improving the educational system within St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, and to levy additional ad valorem taxes for the purpose of retiring the bonds. Defendants filed dilatory and peremptory exceptions including an exception of no cause of action. The trial court sustained the exception of no cause of action and ordered plaintiffs' suit for mandamus dismissed. Plaintiffs appeal. We affirm the dismissal of plaintiffs' suit.

FACTS

On May 3, 1986, the following proposition on a ballot was approved by the voters of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana "Shall Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of St. Landry, State of Louisiana, incur debt and issue bonds to the amount not to exceed $28,000,000 to run twenty-five (25) years from the date thereof, with interest at the maximum rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum, for the purpose of air conditioning school buildings; constructing, acquiring and erecting new high schools; acquiring and/or improving lands for building sites; and acquiring, constructing, erecting and improving other school buildings and related facilities, within and for Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of St. Landry, State of Louisiana, and acquiring the necessary equipment and furnishings therefor, title to which shall be in the public, said bonds to be retired from the avails of property taxes levied and collected within the limits of Consolidated School District No. 1 of the Parish of St. Landry, State of Louisiana, as authorized by Article VI, Section 33 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and from any state revenue sharing moneys made available to reimburse said Parish for property taxes not collected because of the homestead exemption, as authorized by Article VII, Section 26(E) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974?"

Subsequent to the ballot approving the proposition, the defendants, in accordance with La.R.S. 47:1705, set the tax rate and directed the St. Landry Parish Tax Assessor to levy an ad valorem tax on the property in the school district to retire the bonds authorized by the voters. The establishment of a tax rate, pursuant to La.R.S. 39:569, by defendants is authorized by Art. 8, Sec. 13 of the Louisiana Const. of 1974, which provides in pertinent part:

"For giving additional support to public elementary and secondary schools, any parish, school district, or sub-school district, or any municipality or city school board which supports a separate city system of public schools may levy an ad valorem tax for a specific purpose, when authorized by a majority of the electors voting in the parish, municipality, district, or subdistrict in an election held for that purpose. The amount, duration, and purpose of the tax shall be in accord with any limitation imposed by the legislature."

On December 30, 1986, plaintiffs, as taxpayers, voters, and property owners, filed suit against the St. Landry Parish School Board, its Superintendent, and the individual School Board members. Plaintiffs' suit alleged the failure of defendants to properly implement a plan to utilize the newly acquired funds (hereinafter the funds) to be derived from the proceeds of the bonds to be issued by defendants under the authority of the proposition, and which the ad valorem tax would be used to retire. In particular the plaintiffs alleged the following:

"7.

Defendants have no responsible, competent, reasonable, or economically feasible plan which can justify the assessment of ad valorem taxes at this time.

* * *

8.

As an alternative to the contention in Paragraph 7, Petitioners do hereby contend and assert that if any plan or specific purpose for consolidation, construction, and improvement in the educational system of St. Landry Parish does exist, such plan is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable in that it necessitates a superfluous waste of funds, and is an egregious abuse of authority and is in derogation of Petitioners' constitutional right to expect a specific purpose and/or responsible plan to accompany the levying of taxes which were approved and supported by Petitioners ...

9.

Also, as an alternative to the contentions in Paragraph 7, if any plan for the consolidation, construction, and improvement in the educational system does exist, such plan will be to discriminate against certain racial classifications in the Parish of St. Landry Parish by ultimately impacting adversely on the present proportions of black and white students enrolled in public schools in certain areas of the parish ...

10.

Additionally, any specific purpose or plan which exists for the consolidation, construction, and improvement of educational facilities in the Parish of St. Landry is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, and cannot be justified, since such plan completely ignores the present economic realities facing the citizens, businesses, and agricultural entities of the Parish of St. Landry.

11.

The absence of a specific purpose or plan ... constitutes a willful disregard for, and an obstinate repudiation of, Defendants' mandatory and ministerial duty to formulate a reasonable, fair, practical, and economically feasible plan or specific purpose to accompany the levying of taxes to retire the bonds authorized by the election of May 3, 1986, which plan or specific purpose Petitioners are entitled to under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Constitution of the United States ..."

The plaintiffs requested a writ of mandamus directed to the defendants ordering and directing them to adopt a fair and reasonable plan for the expenditure of the funds. In the alternative to the writ of mandamus, plaintiffs requested a declaratory judgment determining that the defendants' plan adopted for the expenditure of the funds is unreasonable or is violative of the constitutional right of the plaintiffs or is racially discriminatory or is an abuse of authority.

Without issuing written reasons for judgment, the trial judge rendered judgment on February 23, 1987, granting defendants' exception of no cause of action and dismissing plaintiffs' suit for a writ of mandamus and the alternative request for declaratory judgment. The judgment of dismissal further recognized that, pursuant to stipulations between the parties, the levy or collection of property taxes under the proposition approved by the St. Landry Parish voters on May 3, 1986 would not be prevented by the plaintiffs' suit.

LAW

An exception of no cause of action must be overruled unless the allegations of the petition exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than premise upon which the defense is based; that is, unless plaintiff has no cause of action under any evidence admissible under the pleadings. Darville v. Texaco, Inc.,...