City of Nashville v. Gibson County

• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: SWEPSTON
• Citation: City of Nashville v. Gibson County, 201 Tenn. 216, 298 S.W.2d 540, 5 McCanless 216 (Tenn. 1956)
• Decision Date: 07 December 1956
• Parties: , 201 Tenn. 216 CITY OF NASHVILLE et al., Appellants, v. GIBSON COUNTY et al., Appellees.

Page 540

298 S.W.2d 540

5 McCanless 216, 201 Tenn. 216

CITY OF NASHVILLE et al., Appellants, v. GIBSON COUNTY et al., Appellees.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Dec. 7, 1956.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 8, 1957.

Raymond Leathers, City Attorney, Farris, Evans & Evans, Nashville, for appellant City of Nashville.

Frank B. Gianotti, Jr., Frierson M. Graves, Jr., Memphis, for appellant City of Memphis.

James L. Bomar, Jr., Shelbyville, for appellant Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics.

E. T. Palmer, Dyersburg, for appellee Dyer County.

Marion H. Holmes, Jr., Trenton, for appellee Gibson County.

Allison B. Humphreys, Sol. Gen., Nashville, Milton P. Rice, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee Attorney General.

Hooker, Keeble, Dodson & Harris, Nashville, for appellee Madison County and other intervening counties.

Hooker, Keeble, Dodson & Harris, Nashville, and Camp & Camp, Sparta, for appellee White County.

SWEPSTON, Justice.

The appeal is directly to this Court on a stipulation of facts. The contest is between the counties of the State on the one hand and certain municipalities operating airport facilities on the other hand. The Chancellor in a very comprehensive opinion held in favor of the counties and hence the cities have appealed.

As appears from the stipulation of facts and from the case of Esso Standard Oil Company v. Evans, 194 Tenn. 377, 250 S.W.2d 569, which case was affirmed on May 4, 1953, by the United State Supreme Court, a sum of about $4,000,000 was collected for the period from January 1944 through June 1946, from Esso Standard Oil Company under Williams' Code, Sec. 1126 et seq., which is the State Gasoline Privilege Tax, by reason of the storage by Esso in the State of Tennessee of gasoline belonging to the United States.

It further appears that during the war years this was high octane aviation gas purchased by the United States at refineries outside the State of Tennessee, which was transported from Louisiana in barges to the port of Memphis where it was then pumped by Esso from the barges into storage tanks, or in some cases tank trucks, and thereafter delivered to various Army posts on order of the United States, some being within and some outside Tennessee. Title to the gasoline passed to the United States at points outside the State of Tennessee and no part of the gasoline was ever sold by the United States. Some of the air force bases in this State to which some of this gasoline was sent were located at municipally-owned airports and used by the United States air force pursuant to contract between the United States and the municipality.

The counties base their claim upon Williams' Code, section 3291.1 et seq., relating to county-aid funds and especially on section 3291.2, which provides as follows:

'3291.2. County aid funds; parts of gasoline tax used.--From the revenue derived from the tax for the privilege of selling and/or distribution and/or storing gasoline, commonly termed the 'state gasoline tax,' a sum equivalent to that derived from the levy of two cents (2cents) for each gallon of gasoline is (hereby) provided for and set aside into a separate fund to be used exclusively as 'county aid funds.' (1931, Ch. 45, sec. 2.)

(The other 5/7 of the 7-cent tax to go to the Highway fund of the State.)'

On the other hand, the municipalities operating airports claim under the statutes relating to the Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics and especially under Williams' Code, section 2726.37 as amended by section 2726.48, 1950 Code Sup., which provided as follows:

'2726.48. Tax on motor fuel sold for aviation; other taxes and fees; allocation.--From the general highway funds in his hands the commissioner of highways and public works shall, on or before the 10th day of each month, through proper accounting facilities, place to the credit of the Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics an amount equal to seven cents for each gallon of motor fuel sold for aviation purposes exclusively at every airport or landing field licensed under the provisions of this article or operated by or under the authority of any governmental subdivision of this state.

'Of the funds so allocated by the commissioner of highways and public works fifty per cent thereof shall be used by the commission for the purpose of carrying out the purposes of this article as herein described and the remaining fifty per cent of said funds shall be returned to the counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions in proportion to the amount of said taxes collected from each of the airports controlled and operated by said counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions, and shall be used by them in connection with their respective areonautics program.

'Funds so returned shall be held apart and not be co-mingled with other funds of said counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions and such funds shall be used solely for carrying out the aeronautics program of said political sub-division. The Tennessee Bureau of Aeronautics is empowered and directed to enforce compliance with the provisions of this article.

'Every person engaged in the sale of motor fuel used exclusively for aviation purposes shall make a separate report of the amount of such gasoline so sold, which report shall be made in triplicate, one copy thereof to be sent to the commission, one to the commissioner of finance and taxation and one to the commissioner of highways and public works.

'All taxes on aviation or aeronautical facilities, operations, or business, or any special fees for participation in any phase of aeronautics collected by the state shall be transferred by the treasurer of the state to the department of highways and public works and by it placed to the credit of the bureau to be used solely for the purpose of advancing the aviation program in the state and for no other purpose. (1937, ch. 305, sec. 15; 1939, ch. 195, sec. 3; 1945, ch. 72, secs. 2, 5.)'

The principal contentions of the respective adversaries is clearly and succinctly stated by the Chancellor as follows:

'First, both the county and the State officials insist that the Bureau of Aeronautics law provides that only that amount of tax on gasoline sold for aviation purposes exclusively is allocable to the Bureau and to political subdivisions controlling and operating airports; that there is no ambiguity in that statute, and it must be read literally to mean that the amount of tax money allocable to the Bureau and said political subdivisions is thereunder confined solely to that derived from the sale of gasoline for aviation purposes exclusively; and since none of the gasoline involved was in fact sold for aviation purposes, or any other purposes, none of the tax collected thereon is allocable to the Bureau and said political subdivisions under the Bureau of Aeronautics law. In addition, the State officials also insist that under the Bureau of Aeronautics law, the political subdivisions were entitled to share in said funds only 'in proportion to the amount of said taxes collected from each of the airports controlled and operated * * *,' and that under the literal meaning of this language in the statute unless the tax is collected from the airport itself no portion thereof is allocable to said political subdivisions.

'Secondly, the Bureau of Aeronautics in the two cities, which are parties to this cause, insist there is ambiguity existing, not by virtue of any confusion or indefiniteness in the language of the statute itself but because if effect be given to the literal sense of the language of the statute, it will be in conflict with and defeat the manifest intention of the Legislature in adopting the Act, and as derived from a reading of the law in its entirety. They insist further that it is the intention of the Legislature in enacting the statute which must be given effect, and that from a reading and consideration of the entire Act it was manifestly the Legislature's intention to allocate for aviation purposes all of the gasoline tax from gasoline used for aviation purposes within the State of Tennessee, and...