Contractors Ass'n of West Virginia v. West Virginia Dept. of Public Safety, Div. of Public Safety
| Decision Date | 23 August 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 21519,21519 |
| Citation | 434 S.E.2d 357,189 W.Va. 685 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | , 36 A.L.R.5th 909 CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF WEST VIRGINIA, a West Virginia Corporation, and the Flexible Pavements Council of West Virginia, an Unincorporated Association, Plaintiffs Below, Appellees, v. WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, DIVISION OF PUBLIC SAFETY; J.R. Buckalew, Superintendent of West Virginia Department of Public Safety; West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles; and Jane Cline, Commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles, Defendants Below, Appellants. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The only purposes for which the funds described in W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52 may be spent are for the "cost of administration and collection" and for the cost of "construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public highways." The term "cost of administration" includes the cost of administering the duties of the Division of Motor Vehicles. The term "maintenance" includes the following activities which are directly related to ensuring the safety of our public highways: the road patrol, traffic, and traffic court activities of the Department of Public Safety; and the motorcycle safety and licensing program, but the term "maintenance" will not be construed to include activities which are remotely connected to highway safety such as the construction and operation of police barracks.
2. The reimbursements by the Division of Motor Vehicles to the Department of Public Safety for the following activities: road patrol, traffic, traffic court, operator examinations, and assistance to the Division of Motor Vehicles with its administrative duties are authorized by W.Va.Code, 15-2-12(i) [1990] because the above activities are "related" to the duties of the Division of Motor Vehicles since the Department of Public Safety is responsible for enforcing traffic laws and regulations which the Division of Motor Vehicles has the duty to administer.
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Atty. Gen., Silas B. Taylor, Sr. Deputy Atty. Gen., Charleston, for appellants.
John Philip Melick, Thomas E. Potter, Jackson & Kelly, Charleston, for appellees.
This case is before the Court upon the appeal of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, Division of Public Safety; J.R. Buckalew, Superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, Division of Public Safety; West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles; and Jane Cline, Commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles, the defendants below, from the December 4, 1992 order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County which granted summary judgment to the appellees and held that certain statutes were in violation of the West Virginia Constitution. The appellees and plaintiffs below are: Contractors Association of West Virginia, a West Virginia corporation, and the Flexible Pavements Council of West Virginia, an unincorporated association.
The appellees, which are in the business of constructing and repairing state highways, filed a declaratory action in order to determine whether or not the reimbursements to the Department of Public Safety violate W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52, which prevents the diversion of funds from highways, or whether the reimbursements exceed the scope of W.Va.Code, 15-2-12(i) [1990], which authorizes reimbursements to the Department of Public Safety for services relating to the duties of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Since July 1, 1990, pursuant to W.Va.Code, 15-2-12(i) [1990], 1 the Department of Public Safety has sent invoices for reimbursement to the Division of Motor Vehicles for the following activities: road patrol, traffic, traffic court, operator examinations, and assistance to the Division of Motor Vehicles with its administrative functions. The appellees also questioned whether the following five statutes violate W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52:
1. W.Va.Code, 17C-16-5 [1987], which involves the collection of inspection sticker fees and the operation and construction of police barracks; 2
2. W.Va.Code, 17A-3-3(a)(7) [1984], which involves the collection of registration fees in order to regulate the compulsory insurance program;
3. W.Va.Code, 17B-1D-7 [1990], which involves motorcycle licensing fees and the motorcycle safety program and licensing program;
4. W.Va.Code, 17A-4-10(c) [1990], which involves fees from salvage and reconstructed vehicle inspections; and
5. W.Va.Code, 17A-6B-3(b) [1990], which involves the collection of a license service certification fee. 3
Both parties moved for summary judgment since there were no disputed issues of fact. The only evidence before the circuit court were the pleadings, three affidavits, and admissions by the State.
The circuit court granted the appellees' motion for summary judgment and found that the above six statutes violate W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52 for two reasons. Number one, the revenues contemplated by the statutes were derived from taxes on fuels or motor vehicles, therefore the expenditure of those revenues are restricted by the language of W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52. Number two, the purposes for which the revenues were appropriated under the challenged statutes were impermissible since the expenditures were neither "costs of administration and collection," nor "maintenance of public highways." The circuit court also found that certain payments made by the Division of Motor Vehicles to the Department of Public Safety exceed the scope of payments authorized by W.Va.Code, 15-2-12(i) [1990]. 4 For reasons set forth below, we reverse, in part, and affirm, in part.
Initially, the focus of this opinion will be on W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52, which states:
Revenue from gasoline and other motor fuel excise and license taxation, motor vehicle registration and license taxes, and all other revenue derived from motor vehicles or motor fuels shall, after deduction of statutory refunds and cost of administration and collection authorized by legislative appropriation, be appropriated and used solely for construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public highways, and also the payment of the interest and principal on all road bonds heretofore issued or which may be hereafter issued for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of public highways, and the payment of obligations incurred in the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public highways.
(emphasis added). Although the issues in this case are inextricable, for purposes of legal analysis, it is desirable to conduct a two-phase inquiry in order to determine whether or not any of the six statutes violate W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52. First are the expenditures of funds described in each statute restricted by W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52? Yes, the expenditures of funds described in each statute are restricted since the funds are "[r]evenue from gasoline and other motor fuel excise and license taxation, motor vehicle registration and license taxes, ... [or] revenue derived from motor vehicles or motor fuels[.]"
Second, and the more difficult question to answer, is whether the restricted revenue is being expended in one of the following manners authorized by W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52: "[as] statutory refunds and cost of administration and collection ... [or for the] construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public highways[?]" Yes, the restricted revenue is being expended in a manner authorized by W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52 with the exception of the funds used for the maintenance and operation of police barracks.
The appellees argue that the expenditures authorized by the above six statutes are funds derived from sources named in the constitutional provision, and the expenditures are not the "cost of administration" nor are they being used for the purposes of "construction, reconstruction, repair or maintenance of public highways[.]" Therefore, the appellees conclude the statutes violate W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52. We disagree with the appellees in part.
At the outset we point out that this issue concerns funds which are part of the state road fund which is codified at W.Va.Code, 17-3-1 [1967] and has been in existence since 1921. See West Virginia Acts 1920-21, c. 112, § 15. Currently, W.Va.Code, 17-3-1 [1967] makes it clear that certain monies derived from automobile or motor driven vehicle related taxes and fees are to be used for only three purposes:
(a) To pay the principal and interest due on all state bonds issued for the benefit of said fund, and set aside and appropriated for that purpose; (b) to pay the expenses of the administration of the road department; (c) to pay the cost of maintenance, construction, reconstruction and improvement of all state roads.
However, in 1942 W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52 was ratified in order "to prevent diversion by the legislature of funds derived from the sources named in the constitutional provision [ W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52] to purposes other than the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public highways...." Charleston Transit Company v. Condry, 140 W.Va. 651, 659-60, 86 S.E.2d 391, 397 (1955). Obviously, the citizens of West Virginia found it necessary to add art. VI, § 52 to our Constitution in order to ensure that the purpose of the state road fund was not thwarted by the legislature.
Therefore, in our analysis of the six statutes we must examine each statute to ascertain whether or not the legislature is circumventing the purpose of W.Va. Const. art. VI, § 52. However, we also note that "[e]very reasonable construction must be resorted to by a court in order to sustain constitutionality and any doubt must be resolved in favor of the constitutionality of the...
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