Opinion ID: 2511
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tonnage Clause

Text: The Tonnage Clause provides that [n]o State shall ... lay any Duty of Tonnage. U.S. Const. art. 1, § 10, cl. 3. As interpreted by the case law, the Tonnage Clause prohibits ... duties to raise general revenues. New Orleans Steamship Association v. Plaquemines Port, Harbor & Terminal District, 874 F.2d 1018, 1023 (5th Cir.1989). Moreover, it requires that benefits and fees be apportioned as closely as is practicable, Plaquemines Port, Harbor & Terminal District v. Federal Maritime Commission, 838 F.2d 536, 545 n. 8 (D.C.Cir.1988), and that the service be available to all fee payers, Clyde Mallory Lines, 296 U.S. at 266, 56 S.Ct. 194. The District Court correctly applied the law to the facts in holding that [t]he Passenger Fee imposed by the Port Authority is used for the impermissible purpose of raising general revenues and for projects which do not and could not benefit the ferry passengers. The testimony of the BPA's own expert and officials supports the Court's conclusion. John Arnold, the BPA's expert, testified that the BPA act[s] as an incubator for growth of economic activity that supports the city itself; the BPA's accountant testified that non-ferry projects benefit the City and the entire community; a commissioner of the BPA testified that the purpose of passenger fee has always been to create a source of revenue to support the operations of the Port Authority. Finally, the BPA's executive director Riccio testified, I think anything that helps business and commerce in the State of Connecticut is going to indirectly benefit the ferry passengers. When asked whether it is fair to fund his travel expenses related to the BPA's non-ferry activities, Riccio testified We don't work for the Port Jefferson Ferry Company or the Port Jefferson ferry passengers. We're a Port Authority and this is what we do. We're developing the port as our mission, bringing other maritime interest and businesses to the Port of Bridgeport. Based on these facts, the district court did not err in its legal conclusion. In addition, the passenger fee offends the Tonnage Clause because the BPA's non-ferry services are not available to ferry passengers; they were completely unrelated and unavailable to the fee payers. Charging the fee-payers for services that are not available to them is impermissible under the Tonnage Clause, even if not all fee payers actually use them. See Plaquemines, 838 F.2d at 545.