Opinion ID: 481732
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: County-wide Taxes.

Text: 72 The bulk of the tax money collected throughout the county that is designated for education is divided between the county and city school systems on a pro rata basis based on the number of students enrolled in each school system. For the year considered by the district court, approximately 79% of each tax dollar was allocated to the county (which had 5714 students) while the remaining 21% went to the city (which had 1568 students). 8 73 The defendants, however, presented no evidence that the city paid a disproportionate amount of the ad valorem and excise taxes collected in Escambia County. 9 The lack of evidence is in contrast to the Phillips v. Andress case, where the defendants proved that the city did in fact pay more in property taxes than was returned to its own school system; nevertheless, the court in Phillips ruled that the monetary difference was insignificant relative to the school budget. 634 F.2d at 951. 74 This lack of evidence, however, is analogous to the claims of the Phillips defendants that the city in that case paid a disproportionate amount of a county sales tax. The defendants in Phillips presented no evidence attempting to distinguish the county and city residents' shares of the sales tax. In rejecting this contention of a substantial financial contribution, the Phillips court emphasized the lack of evidence on the question. 634 F.2d at 951. In this case, while claiming that city tax dollars flow to the county, the defendants have not shown us how. 10 75 Yet, even if the defendants here had presented evidence of disproportionate payment by the city, the amount of overpayment would still not rise to a significant level. Assuming, arguendo, that the defendants could prove that the city residents (17% of the total population) paid over one-third (34%) of the total county tax receipts, the amount of overpayment flowing into the coffers of the county school system would still only be about $130,000, which is less than 1% of the county budget, and thus less than the percentages ruled insignificant in Phillips and Hogencamp. Thus, even if there is some disproportionate tax payment by the city, it is highly unlikely to rise to the level of a substantial interest. 76