Court Opinion

ID: 9632503
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:17:39.486735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:39:18.887591
License: Public Domain

JACOBSON, Presiding Judge,
concurring.
The result in the majority opinion is correct. What requires me to write a concurring opinion, is the tacit failure of the majority opinion to fully come to grips with whether or not individuals residing in special road districts created pursuant to A.R.S. § 18-251 et seq. constitute a class for the purposes of invoking the equal protection clauses of both the Arizona and United States constitutions. In my opinion, these individuals constitute such a class.
As the majority opinion points out, of the numerous bonding provisions applicable to a myriad of governmental units, only residents of special road districts are singled out for super majority voting requirements. This is in sharp contrast to the statutory scheme under consideration in Gordon v. Lance, 403 U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 1889, 29 L.Ed.2d 273 (1971), the principal authority relied on in the majority opinion. In Gordon, at issue was the constitutionality of a scheme in West Virginia which required that all political subdivisions of the state could not incur bonded indebtedness without the approval of 60% of the voters. Essential to a resolution of this issue was whether or not a denial of simple majority approval was a denial of equal protection. The court held it was not. I therefore agree with the majority’s conclusion that Gordon, of necessity, stands for the proposition that proponents of a bond issue do not constitute an “identifiable class.”
This does not answer the question presented here, for unlike West Virginia’s uniform super majority requirement, Arizona, in the words of Gordon singles out for special treatment a “discrete and insular *154minority” — residents of special road districts. While I might agree that there is no absolute requirement that the state provide for bonding authority to build roads for use of its citizens, once having undertaken to do so the state has, a fortiori, created a class of citizens whose property is subjected to taxation for the creation of those roads. Since I can discern no difference in needs between landowners whose property is taxed for roads under a general improvement district and those whose property is taxed for roads under a special road district, it appears to me that the state must treat all those needs equally, under principles of equal protection. This Arizona has not done. _ The need for roads of residents of general improvement districts are satisfied by a simple majority affirmative vote. The corresponding needs of residents of special road districts can only be satisfied by a two-thirds affirmative vote. This disparity of treatment in my opinion creates a discernable class for the purposes of applying equal protection principles.
However, simply finding that such a class exists for purposes of equal protection does not also imply a finding that such a class has been unconstitutionally created. This principle is articulated in Schrey v. Allison Steel Manufacturing Co., 75 Ariz. 282, 286, 255 P.2d 604, 606 (1953):
All discrimination or inequality is not forbidden. Certain privileges may be granted some and denied others under some circumstances, if they be granted or denied upon the same terms and if there exists a reasonable basis therefor. When presented with a law showing partiality, we are always inevitably led into the troublesome problem of classification. The principle involved is not that legislation may not impose special burdens or grant special privileges not imposed on or granted to others; it is that no law may do so without good reason. A principle which none can dispute is that a statute may be allowed to operate unequally between classes if it operates uniformly upon all members of a class, provided the classification is founded upon reason and is not whimsical, capricious or arbitrary. (Cite omitted).
In approaching the issue of classification, the majority correctly finds that the court need only determine whether a reasonable basis exists for the classification, rather than the more stringent test of “strict scrutiny” or “compelling interest.” See State v. Levy’s, 119 Ariz. 191, 580 P.2d 329 (1978). In my opinion a reasonable basis exists for treating special road districts differently than other road improvement districts.
As stated by the majority, the special road districts are rural in nature, with a small number of citizens to carry the financial burden, and the bond issues upon which the citizens vote are not subject to the many requirements of need and cost as are other bond issues before they may be placed on the ballot. The difference in the character of the area and the statutory prerequisites for creation of the district provides a rational basis for different treatment accorded by the legislature for the citizens within special road districts. I find no violation of the United States or Arizona Constitutions’ equal protection clauses.
I, therefore, concur with the result reached by the majority.