June 30th, 2018

Beer Industry League of Louisiana v. City of New Orleans

Docket: 2018-CA-0280
Opinion Date: June 27, 2018
Judge: Greg G. Guidry
Areas of Law: Business Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law

In this case, the issue presented for the Louisiana Supreme Court’s review centered on whether a City of New Orleans ordinance levying a gallonage tax based on volume upon dealers who handle high alcoholic content beverages was a valid exercise of its authority to levy and collect occupational license taxes within the meaning of La. Const. Art. VI, sec. 28. The trial court declared the ordinance unconstitutional. The Supreme Court found the portion of the ordinance at issue was not an unconstitutional exercise of the City’s taxing authority. Thus, the Court reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.

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