Opinion ID: 1649985
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 18

Heading: Is the Statute constitutional?

Text: Plaintiffs Coleman allege that Minnesota Statutes 473.592 and 473.595, Subd. 7 are unconstitutional. M.S. 473.592 provides for the agreement between the Council, Commission and City of Minneapolis to impose a sales tax upon retail on-sale liquor and gross receipts of hotels and motels located within the City. The rate of tax shall be whatever necessary to produce revenues to be determined by the Council from year to year to pay debt service on bonds, operation, administration and maintenance of the sports facility. The City of Minneapolis has now imposed a three percent tax on the gross receipts from all on-sale liquor and a three percent tax on motel-hotel gross receipts. Plaintiff Robert Short testified that the motel-hotel tax is most objectionable, especially insofar as the Leamington Hotel is concerned, a convention hotel operating in a highly competitive field. The tax in Mr. Short's judgment will seriously affect this hotel because of the unfair advantage given to convention hotels lying outside the limits of the City of Minneapolis. However, the testimony also indicated that most, if not all other hotel-motel operators within the City favor the stadium and accompanying tax on the assumption that the stadium will in fact benefit them as the legislature also has assumed. Lifteau clearly establishes that the legislature may legitimately establish taxing districts. The changes made in the law since Lifteau narrowing the taxing district to the City of Minneapolis does not change the rationale of Lifteau and the court is satisfied that the statute providing for the on-sale liquor, motel-hotel tax in the City of Minneapolis is constitutional. M.S. 473.595, Subd. 7 permits the Commission to sell seats in the stadium thereby giving the purchaser first preference for the purchase of season tickets for the admission to professional sports exhibitions. The owner of such seat is permitted to transfer ownership and the Commission has the right to charge maintenance not to exceed $10 a year for such seat. Petitioner Coleman has not cited any authority for his claim of unconstitutionality of this Section and the court has found none to support Petitioner's claim and the court considers the presumption of constitutionality conclusive. It is contended that Minnesota Statute 473.597 is unconstitutional. The Statute provides: Pursuant to Article VI, Section 2, of the Minnesota Constitution the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction of any action brought or maintained in which an issue is presented as to the validity of a provision of Laws 1979, Chapter 203, Sections 1 to 14, and may hear and determine the issue as provided in Title V of the Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure, after notice given as provided in Rule 144. Article VI, Section 2 of the Minnesota Constitution confers on the Minnesota Supreme Court original jurisdiction in such remedial cases as are now prescribed by law. . . Hunt v. Hoffman, [125] Minn. 249, 146 N.W. 733 (1914), involved the constitutionality of the statute which conferred original jurisdiction on the Supreme Court to compel a city canvassing board to correct a mistake. The court stated that the remedial cases, which the legislature may give this court original jurisdiction, are only those special or extraordinary proceedings where the remedy is offered summarily through certain original remedial writs such as Mandamus, Certiorari, Quo Warranto, Prohibition, Habeas Corpus and the like. 146 N.W. at 734. It was noted by the court, that they are not particular about names of actions and the relief as requested was in the nature of mandamus proceedings, therefore, falling within Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution. W. Saetre