United States v. Anderson County, Tenn., 3-82-83.
| Decision Date | 15 April 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 3-82-83.,3-82-83. |
| Citation | 547 F. Supp. 18 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. ANDERSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee |
John H. McCarthy, Jimmie Baxter, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff.
Mike Lawson, Clinton, Tenn., Jim Creecy, State Atty. Gen., Nashville, Tenn., for defendant.
Plaintiff brought this action to obtain a declaratory judgment that a real property tax assessed by Anderson County, Tennessee is unconstitutional. Defendants have moved the Court to abstain and to dismiss this case because a case involving the same issue is pending in the Davidson County, Tennessee Chancery Court.
Plaintiff first instituted this action on July 15, 1980. The issue in that suit and the present one is whether or not Anderson County may levy a real property tax on the interest of Union Carbide Corporation (Union Carbide), if any, in real property known as the Y-12 Plant located in Anderson County. The land and plant are owned by the United States. Union Carbide operates the plant under a contract with the United States. On July 23, 1980, the case was dismissed so that the United States and Union Carbide could present their claim to the Anderson County Board of Equalization. On September 30, 1980 the Anderson County Board of Equalization ruled that the property tax on Union Carbide's interest in the Y-12 Plant was legal and appraised that interest at $370,000,000. Union Carbide appealed the decision to the Assessment Appeals Commission which reversed the Anderson County Board of Equalization, holding that Union Carbide had no taxable interest in the Y-12 Plant. On January 8, 1982 the State Board of Equalization reversed the Assessment Appeals Commission in a 4-3 decision. The State Board held that Union Carbide owned a real property interest in the Y-12 Plant and appraised that interest at $325,000,000. On February 12, 1982 the United States filed this action. On March 8, 1982, Union Carbide petitioned the Davidson County, Tennessee Chancery Court for review.
In United States v. State of Ohio, 614 F.2d 101 (6th Cir. 1979), the Court held that abstention was proper where government contractors challenged a state tax before the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals and the United States filed an action in federal district court challenging the same tax. The Court relied on the abstention doctrines set forth in Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co., 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941) and Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 639 (1971), and adopted the approach of the Second Circuit in In the Matter of Levy, 574 F.2d 128 (2nd Cir. 1978). There the Second Circuit held that a district court should not abstain in a case challenging state taxation if (1) there are no unsettled questions of state law which affect federal claims; (2) present state proceedings would not be interrupted by exercise of federal jurisdiction; (3) and the most important questions of law presented by the suit are federal, not state, questions. The Sixth Circuit concluded that none of the criteria was met in that case.
Plaintiff seeks to distinguish the Ohio case on the ground that there is no unsettled question of state...
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U.S. v. Anderson County, Tenn., 82-5281
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