Opinion ID: 1685227
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: district court consolidated order

Text: Based upon a stipulation by the parties, the district court consolidated cases Nos. 558-163 and 562-086. Trial took place in January 2000, and the district court entered its orders on May 1, 2000. After considering motions for a new trial filed by the State defendants and Nebraska Beef, the district court amended its May 1 order in each case. In its amended orders, the district court first determined that it had jurisdiction to hear the case because the Board's decision was a contested case within the meaning of the APA, § 84-917. Next, the district court considered the plaintiffs' public meetings laws claims. The district court concluded that the August 14, 1996, closed session was not in substantial violation of the public meetings laws because the reasons given for closed session seem[ed] valid and the Board did not take any final action. Additionally, although the district court intimated that the closed session at the November 25, 1996, meeting might have been improper, it determined that Antoinette Wasikowski (hereafter Wasikowski) waived any claim on this ground because she attended the meeting but did not object to a closed session. Thus, the district court concluded that the plaintiffs' complaint under the public meetings laws failed. The district court next considered the plaintiffs' cause of action stated pursuant to the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. Sovereign immunity defeated claims against the Board and the Department of Revenue; thus, the district court analyzed this cause of action with regard to the individual defendants only. The district court determined that the allegation that the Board acted without statutory authority in approving Nebraska Beef's application failed because although Nebraska Beef was already operating in Nebraska when it received the tax credits, this fact was not dispositive; the district court found that the Board takes other factors into account under § 77-4928(4) in reviewing a wage benefit credit application. The district court lastly considered the plaintiffs' cause of action pursuant to the APA and concluded that the Board's approval of the application was invalid as a violation of the plaintiffs' due process rights because (1) the Department of Revenue had not promulgated rules or regulations prior to the Board's approval of the application and (2) § 77-4932 mandates such rules and regulations. The district court rejected the defendants' equitable estoppel, laches, and waiver defenses. In conclusion, the district court declared the wage benefit credits given to Nebraska Beef void and ordered Nebraska Beef to return the wage benefit credits to the State. The State defendants and Nebraska Beef appeal to this court; the plaintiffs cross-appeal. Pursuant to Neb. Ct. R. of Prac. 2B (rev.2000), we granted Nebraska Beef and the State defendants' petition to bypass the Nebraska Court of Appeals.