Post by Logan on Jun 16, 2016 1:58:51 GMT -6
Appeals court: Austin must refund $200,000 for improper billboard fee
Ruling that the city of Austin’s billboard registration fee was an unconstitutional tax, a state appeals court Wednesday ordered the city to refund almost $200,000 to an advertising company that had sued to challenge the annual charge.
The Texas Constitution requires local governments to limit taxes to no more than 50 percent of a tax charged by the state. Because Texas doesn’t tax billboards, Austin’s $190-per-sign annual fee is well beyond the 50 percent limit and is therefore unconstitutional and “void from its inception,” the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals ruled.
Reagan National Advertising, the court said, would have been entitled to a refund on all the money it paid Austin — almost $480,000 from 2009 to 2014, the latest year figures were available when Reagan filed its appeal.
Instead, the court ordered Austin to pay what Reagan requested — $198,450, the amount the company said it overpaid based on its expert’s calculation that the city’s true cost of regulation was $115 per billboard.
Read more: www.mystatesman.com/news/news/court-austin-must-refund-200000-for-improper-fee/nrgrH/
Ruling that the city of Austin’s billboard registration fee was an unconstitutional tax, a state appeals court Wednesday ordered the city to refund almost $200,000 to an advertising company that had sued to challenge the annual charge.
The Texas Constitution requires local governments to limit taxes to no more than 50 percent of a tax charged by the state. Because Texas doesn’t tax billboards, Austin’s $190-per-sign annual fee is well beyond the 50 percent limit and is therefore unconstitutional and “void from its inception,” the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals ruled.
Reagan National Advertising, the court said, would have been entitled to a refund on all the money it paid Austin — almost $480,000 from 2009 to 2014, the latest year figures were available when Reagan filed its appeal.
Instead, the court ordered Austin to pay what Reagan requested — $198,450, the amount the company said it overpaid based on its expert’s calculation that the city’s true cost of regulation was $115 per billboard.
Read more: www.mystatesman.com/news/news/court-austin-must-refund-200000-for-improper-fee/nrgrH/