Hedgepeth v. Tennessee

• Citation: 33 F.Supp.2d 668
• Decision Date: 29 December 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-2825-TUV.,97-2825-TUV.
• Parties: Andrew HEDGEPETH, Celia Burson, David McCleary, and Gaynell Metts, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. State of TENNESSEE, State of Tennessee Department of Safety, and Mike Green, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Tennessee

Page 668

33 F.Supp.2d 668

Andrew HEDGEPETH, Celia Burson, David McCleary, and Gaynell Metts, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. State of TENNESSEE, State of Tennessee Department of Safety, and Mike Green, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety, Defendants.

No. 97-2825-TUV.

United States District Court, W.D. Tennessee, Western Division.

December 29, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Alex Saharovich, Marc A. Sorin, Nahon & Saharovich, Michael F. Rafferty, Jonathan E. Scharff, Harris Shelton Dunlap & Cobb, Memphis, TN, for Plaintiffs.

S. Elizabeth Martin, Mary M. Collier, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Litigation and State Services, Nashville, TN, for Defendants.

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS

TURNER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, handicapped individuals, allege that defendants' collecting fees for issuing handicapped parking placards violates the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101, et seq. Presently before the court is defendants' motion to dismiss which challenges whether this court has subject matter jurisdiction and whether the plaintiffs' claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

I. Standards of Review

A. Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

When considering a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the existence of the court's jurisdiction. Rogers v. Stratton Indus., Inc., 798 F.2d 913, 915 (6th Cir. 1986). Furthermore, where defendants factually attack whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction as averred in a complaint, "no presumptive truthfulness applies to the [plaintiff's] factual allegations." Ohio Nat'l Life Ins. Co. v. United States, 922 F.2d 320, 325 (6th Cir.1990). Instead, factual disputes should be decided by the court based on the evidence before it. Id.¹

B. Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim

When considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, all factual allegations of the plaintiff are to be believed and the claim must not be dismissed unless it appears that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his allegations which would entitle him to relief. Gazette v. City of Pontiac, 41 F.3d 1061, 1064 (6th Cir.1994) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). If "matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b).

C. Summary Judgment Standard²

The moving party is entitled to summary judgment where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). When considering a motion for summary judgment, the court's function is not to weigh the evidence or judge its truth; rather, the court must determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 254, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The substantive law governing the case will determine what issues of fact are material. Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1479 (6th Cir.1989).

A summary judgment movant "bears the burden of clearly and convincingly establishing the nonexistence of any genuine issue of material fact and the evidence as well as all inferences drawn therefrom must be read in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion." Kochins v. Linden-Alimak, Inc., 799 F.2d 1128, 1133 (6th Cir.1986). Once met, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue of triable fact. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(e). To meet this burden, the non-movant must present sufficient countervailing evidence such that a jury could return a verdict favorable to the non-moving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

II. Background

Plaintiffs are disabled Tennessee residents who have been issued handicapped parking placards by the defendants, which afford them certain parking privileges. Plaintiffs challenge defendants' practice of charging a $20.50 assessment for the original issue of a placard, and a $3.00 bi-annual renewal fee, as violating the ADA. More specifically, plaintiffs contend that by charging fees for the issuance of a placard, defendants have made the equal access mandated by the ADA contingent upon the payment of a surcharge, which violates the ADA. Plaintiffs have brought their action as a class action, asserting that the class consists of all purchasers of placards or renewals since July 26, 1992.

The State of Tennessee is named as a defendant responsible for the enforcement of Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-21-103, which provides parking placards to individuals with disabilities. The State of Tennessee Department of Safety is named as a defendant because it is the agency responsible for administering the parking placard program. Mike Green is named as a defendant in his official capacity because he is the Commissioner of the Department of Safety, responsible for implementing the parking placard program.

Plaintiffs seek a judgment declaring it unlawful for defendants to require fee payments for handicapped placards and an injunction prohibiting defendants from requiring further fee payments. Plaintiffs also seek restitution of all fees paid by the class for parking placards since July 26, 1992, and attorneys' fees and costs.

III. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants contend this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because (a) the Tax Injunction Act bars plaintiffs' claim in this forum, and/or (b) the defendants are immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment.

A. Tax Injunction Act

"The Tax Injunction Act is an expression of congressional purpose to promote comity and to afford states the broadest independence, consistent with the federal constitution, in the administration of their affairs, particularly revenue raising." Wright v. McClain, 835 F.2d 143, 144 (6th Cir.1987). The Federal Tax Injunction Act ("TIA") provides that:

[t]he district courts shall not enjoin, suspend or restrain the assessment, levy or collection of any tax under State law where a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in the courts of such State.

28 U.S.C. § 1341. The TIA applies not only to injunctive relief, but to declaratory relief, Arkansas v. Farm Credit Servs., 520 U.S. 821, 117 S.Ct. 1776, 1779, 138 L.Ed.2d 34 (1997), and to monetary relief, Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Tax Assessor, 116 F.3d 943, 945 (1st Cir.1997) (citing National Private Truck Council, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n, 515 U.S. 582, 115 S.Ct. 2351, 132 L.Ed.2d 509 (1995)). Thus, if the TIA is applicable here, this court will be without authority to afford any relief requested by plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs assert that the TIA does not apply in this case because the fee paid for handicapped placards is not a tax, and/or there is no plain, speedy, and efficient remedy to be had in the Tennessee state courts.

1. Tax Under the TIA

The definition of the term "tax" as used in the TIA is a question of federal law. Wright, 835 F.2d at 144. In making a determination, the court must determine "whether the assessment in question is for revenue raising purposes or merely a regulatory or punitive levy in the nature of a privilege fee." Id. at 144.

The central inquiry in characterizing a charge is its ultimate use. Marcus v. Kansas, 980 F.Supp. 398, 402 (D.Kan.1997) (finding purpose of assessment for handicap placards was revenue raising and therefore was a tax under the TIA); Lussier v. Florida, 972 F.Supp. 1412, 1420-21 (M.D.Fla.1997) (same). Under Tennessee's statutory scheme, the $20.50 handicap placard fee and $3.00 renewal fee are apportioned into the state's highway fund, general fund, police pay supplement fund, and trooper safety fund. Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 55-4-111, 55-6-107, 55-4-103, 55-21-103. This reading of the Tennessee statutory scheme is in accord with the affidavits of Bill Hedge, Fiscal Services Director of the State of Tennessee Department of Safety, and Martha Irwin, Director of Title and Registration, State of Tennessee Department of Safety. Thus, the fees charged for the placards benefit the general public and resemble a revenue raising measure.³

Plaintiffs rely on Collins Holding Corp. v. Jasper County, 123 F.3d 797, 800 (4th Cir.1997) for the proposition that when "the assessment covers only a narrow class of persons and is paid into a special fund to benefit regulated entities or defray the cost of regulation, it sounds like a fee." This court has already found that the assessment is not paid into a special fund to benefit regulated entities or to defray the cost of regulation. Standing alone, the fact that an assessment targets only a narrow class of people is not enough to characterize the assessment as a fee. See Wright, 835 F.2d at 144-45 (holding that fees charged to parolees were taxes for purposes of the TIA).

Accordingly, the court finds the ultimate purpose of Tennessee's assessment is general revenue raising, unrelated to the costs of administering the placard program, and it is therefore a tax under the TIA.

2. Plain, Speedy, and Efficient Remedy

Plaintiffs make two arguments to support their contention that they have no plain, speedy, and efficient remedy under Tennessee state law and that the TIA is therefore not applicable.

First, plaintiffs argue, without pointing to any authority, that Congress granted exclusive jurisdiction to the federal courts to hear claims brought under the ADA. Plaintiffs then rely on Thiokol Corp. v. Dep't of Treasury, 987 F.2d 376, 379 (6th Cir.1993), where the Sixth Circuit held a party does not have a plain, speedy, and...