Thomson Newspapers, Inc. v. City of Florence, 22413
| Decision Date | 07 October 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 22413,22413 |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | , 12 Media L. Rep. 1463 THOMSON NEWSPAPERS, INC., Respondent, v. CITY OF FLORENCE, Joe W. Pearce, Jr., Mayor, John A. Sellers, Ben Dozier, Haigh Porter, Edward J. McIver, James T. Schofield and K. Fred Samra, members of City Council of the City of Florence, and Brenda Best, License Inspector of the City of Florence, Appellants. . Heard |
James R. Bell, Florence, for appellants.
E.N. Zeigler of Zeigler, McEachin & Graham, Florence, for respondent.
Respondent Thomson Newspapers challenged the constitutionality of a city ordinance that imposed a business license tax on daily newspapers at a higher rate than other businesses were charged. The trial judge declared a section of the ordinance unconstitutional as violative of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and violative of the First Amendment as a restriction on freedom of the press. We reverse.
The appellant City of Florence classifies businesses for purposes of assessing fees for annual business licenses. A separate classification exists for daily newspapers. Thomson, a daily newspaper, alleged it should be classified as a manufacturer for business licenses fees, under which it would have paid a smaller business license fee.
The trial judge found the city had failed to show any rational basis for classifying newspapers separately from manufacturers, and invalidated the separate classification on constitutional grounds.
Municipalities are empowered to levy a business license tax on gross income. S.C.Code Anno. Section 5-7-30 (Supp.1984); Article VIII, Section 1, South Carolina Constitution. The power to impose a license tax implies the power to classify businesses and establish rates of taxation. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company v. City of Aiken, 279 S.C. 269, 306 S.E.2d 220 (1983). However, the classifications must be reasonable and not arbitrary, and must be equally assessed on persons of the same class. Wingfield, et al. v. S.C. Tax Commission, et al., 147 S.C. 116, 144 S.E. 846 (1928). A newspaper may be subjected to nondiscriminatory forms of general taxation. Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 92 S.Ct. 2646, 33 L.Ed.2d 626 (1972).
The burden is upon the taxpayer to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the unconstitutionality of a taxing ordinance. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company v. City of Spartanburg, 285 S.C. 495, 331 S.E.2d 333 (1985). The taxpayer must negate every conceivable basis which might support the tax. North Charleston Land Corporation v. City of North Charleston, 281 S.C. 470, 316 S.E.2d 137 (1984). Thomson argues this burden is shifted to the city where, as here, the ordinance is challenged on First Amendment grounds, citing Minneapolis Star & Tribune Company v. Minnesota Commissioner...
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