Handy v. Parish School Bd. of Acadia Parish
| Decision Date | 30 April 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 3042,3042 |
| Parties | Dorris HANDY, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PARISH SCHOOL BOARD OF the PARISH OF ACADIA, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Bean & Rush, by James W. Bean, Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellant.
E. E. Huppenbauer, Jr., New Orleans, and Nolan J. Edwards, of Edwards, Edwards & Broadhurst, Crowley, for defendant-appellee.
Before HOOD, CULPEPPER and MILLER, JJ.
The plaintiff in this action, Dorris Handy, Jr., resides in and is a registered voter of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, but he owns no immovable property subject to ad valorem taxation in Crowley School District No. 2 of that parish. He instituted this suit against the Parish School Board of the Parish of Acadia.
Plaintiff seeks a judgment: (1) Annulling an election held in Crowley School District No. 2 of Acadia Parish on April 22, 1969, which authorized the incurring of debt and the issuance of bonds by that district; (2) decreeing to be null and void all provisions of the Louisiana constitution and statutes which restrict the right to vote in general obligation bond elections to 'property taxpayers,' and enjoining defendant from giving effect to those constitutional and statutory provisions; and (3) decreeing that petitioner and all qualified electors in Crowley School District No. 2 of Acadia Parish shall be entitled to vote in all future general obligation bond elections held in that school district.
The defendant, among other pleadings, filed an exception of prescription or peremption to that part of plaintiff's demand which seeks to invalidate the election held on April 22, 1969, and reserving its rights under that exception, it also filed an answer. After trial, judgment was rendered by the trial court sustaining the exception of peremption filed by defendant and rejecting all other demands of plaintiff. Plaintiff has appealed.
The substantial issue presented is whether the provisions of the Louisiana constitution and statutes which limit the right to vote in general obligation bond elections to 'property taxpayers' is invalid and unenforceable as being in contravention of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution .
The facts are that on March 3, 1969, the defendant school board, as the governing authority of Crowley School District No. 2 of Acadia Parish, adopted a resolution calling a special election to be held in that school district to authorize the incurring of debt and the issuance of general obligation bonds of said school district in the amount of $3,125,000.00. Pursuant to that resolution, the election was held on April 22, 1969, and the proceedings adopted by the defendant school board on April 24, 1969, canvassing and promulgating the results of that election, were duly published on May 9, 1969. The canvass showed that the proposal carried by a substantial majority, both in the number of votes cast and in the assessed valuation of property voted.
The election was held pursuant to the provisions of Article XIV, Section 14(a), of the Louisiana Constitution, and pursuant to the provisions of Part II and Sub-Part A of Part III, Chapter 4, Title 39, of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. LSA R.S. 39:508 and the cited section of the constitution provide, in effect, that only property taxpayers qualified to vote under the constitution and laws of this State may vote in a general obligation bond election, where the indebtedness is to be secured by and paid from taxes levied on the taxable property in the district for which the election is called. Plaintiff, being a qualified voter in the district but not a property taxpayer, was not permitted to vote in the bond election which was held on April 22, 1969.
This suit was instituted more than sixty days after the results of the election had been promulgated, and the trial judge correctly held that that part of plaintiff's demand which seeks to annul the election held on April 22, 1969, is barred by prescription or peremption of sixty days. See La.Const. Art. XIV, Sec. 14(n); LSA R .S. 39:518; and Chambers v. Road District No. 505 of Tangipahoa Parish, 255 La. 55, 229 So.2d 698 (1969). A writ of certiorari was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Chambers case on March 2, 1970, 397 U.S. 963, 90 S.Ct. 998, 25 L.Ed.2d 256.
Plaintiff concedes on this appeal that he is barred by the prescription or peremption of sixty days from attacking the election which was held on April 22, 1969, and he has formally abandoned his demand that that election be decreed to be null and void. He contends, however, that he is entitled to the other relief which he prayed for, and that the trial judge erred in rejecting those demands.
In his petition, plaintiff alleges that defendant contemplates and intends to call further elections for the issuance of general obligation bonds under the above mentioned constitutional and statutory provisions permitting only property taxpayers to vote at said elections, and he seeks to enjoin defendant from calling any further elections under those state constitutional and statutory provisions, on the ground that such provisions discriminate against him and others similarly situated, depriving them of their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. In attacking the constitutionality or validity of the Louisiana constitutional and statutory provisions, plaintiff relies largely on the recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court in the cases of Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966); Kramer v. Union Free School District, 395 U.S. 621, 89 S.Ct. 1886, 23 L.Ed. 583 (1969); and Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S. 701, 89 S.Ct. 1897, 23 L.Ed.2d 647 (1969).
The trial judge rejected the argument made by plaintiff. For reasons assigned in an excellent and scholarly opinion, he concluded that the provisions of the Louisiana constitution and statutes which limit the voting franchise in general obligation bond elections to property taxpayers do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. He thus rendered judgment denying the relief sought by plaintiff and dismissing this suit. We ultimately conclude that the judgment of the district court is correct.
Article XIV, Section 14(a), of the Louisiana constitution authorizes school districts to incur debt and to issue negotiable bonds, '* * * when authorized by a vote of a majority in number and amount, of the property tax-payers qualified to vote under the Constitution and laws of this State.' It also provides that when such a debt is incurred the governing authority of the district '* * * shall impose and collect annually, in excess of all other taxes, a tax sufficient to pay the interest annually or semi-annually and the principal falling due each year.'
LSA R.S. 39:508 provides that 'Only property taxpayers qualified as electors under the constitution and laws of this state are entitled to vote in any election held under the provisions of this Part.' And, LSA R.S. 39:569 provides that the governing body of any subdivision issuing bonds under that Part of the Revised Statutes '* * * shall impose and collect annually in excess of all other taxes, a tax on all the property subject to taxation by the subdivision sufficient in amount to pay the interest annually or semi-annually, and the principal falling due each year.'
The Louisiana constitution and statutes clearly provide, therefore, that the right to vote in general obligation bond elections is limited to 'property taxpayers,' but they also provide with equal clarity that the indebtedness incurred by virtue of each such election must be paid by taxes levied on property in the subdivision which is subject to taxation. In essence, the constitution and statutes simply provide that the electors who must pay the indebtedness are the only ones who are entitled to vote on the question of whether such a debt shall be incurred.
In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, supra, relied on by plaintiff, the United States Supreme Court held that the Virginia poll tax was unconstitutional, as being in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. No issue was presented there as to whether the franchised voters had a direct interest in or were primarily affected by any particular election, or whether the poll tax law was necessary because of a 'compelling state interest' to limit the right to vote to a particular class of voters. The Harper case thus has no application here.
In Kramer v. Union Free School District, supra, a New York statute which excluded certain electors from the right to vote in some school district elections was held to be unconstitutional as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The New York statute provided that to be eligible to vote at any annual district meeting for 'school district officers, and upon all other matters which may be brought before such meetings,' an otherwise qualified district resident must be: (1) The owner or lessee of taxable real property located in the district; (2) the spouse of one who owns or leases qualifying property; or (3) the parent or guardian of a child enrolled for a specified time during the preceding year in a local school district. The evidence not only failed to show that the franchised voters had a 'primary interest' in school board matters, but on the contrary, it showed that many persons who were authorized to vote had only a remote and indirect interest in school affairs, while many excluded electors had a distinct and direct interest in school meeting decisions. The court thus held that there was no 'compelling state interest' which could justify denying the franchise to the appellant and to members of his class.
In the Kramer case, the Supreme Court declined to express an...
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