Opinion ID: 2428642
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismissal and Discovery

Text: There are other points that need to be discussed. The County emphasizes that Hoyle's proposed class cannot recover taxes which were voluntarily paid, even where an illegal exaction is involved, and the trial court so held. That is certainly the settled law on this point. See City of Little Rock v. Cash, 277 Ark. 494, 644 S.W.2d 229 (1982). In the case at hand, however, Hoyle claims relief only for illegal real property taxes due and payable on or before October 10, 1997, which is after the date his first complaint was filed, which was March 8, 1997, though it was subsequently amended on two occasions. To the extent that taxes were paid before October 10, 1997, we held in Cash that taxes paid after the filing of the complaint are considered to be taxes paid under protest and, thus, not voluntary. That holding in Cash decides the issue in the instant case. [3] The trial court also concluded that Amendment 59 was not activated because personal property had not been reassessed along with real property. We question the validity of this point. Personal property is assessed every year by law. Ark.Code Ann. § 26-26-1408 (Repl.1997). Moreover, the rollback formula set out in Amendment 59 pertains to taxes derived from taxable real property. See Ark. Const. art. 16, § 14(a)(i) & (ii). See also Barker v. Frank, supra . The trial court clearly erred in finding there was no countywide comprehensive reappraisal that would trigger Amendment 59. Nor do we view this as an Equal Protection case, as the County would have it, where Act 758 can be sustained if the resulting classification is supported by a rational basis. This is an illegal-exaction case where we hold that that portion of the tax levied without the Amendment 59 rollback is unlawful. Finally, we are cognizant of the fact that the General Assembly subsequently became well aware of its mistake in enacting Act 758. In the Emergency Clause to Act 836 of 1997, which repealed Act 758 and was effective March 26, 1997, the General Assembly observed that Act 758 of 1995 has placed an unfair burden on the taxpayers of the State of Arkansas by directing countywide reappraisals of property in a manner which circumvents the rollback provisions of Amendment 59.... While this statement surely does not decide the constitutional issue before us, it is indicative of the General Assembly's recognition of the abiding conflict between Act 758 and Amendment 59. We reverse the trial court's order dismissing Hoyle's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and we remand the matter for further proceedings. Because we are reversing the dismissal order and remanding, Hoyle's issues concerning dismissal with prejudice and additional discovery are moot. Reversed and remanded. CHUCK BANKS and RICHARD PROCTOR, Special Justices, join in this opinion.