Executive files suit over CATS tax

Published Jul 31, 2012 at 3:00 pm (Updated Jul 31, 2012)

Local business executive Milton Graugnard is suing CATS over the 10.6-mill property tax that was passed in April by voters in a specially crafted taxing district. "It's a case about fairness, taxation and the Constitution," Graugnard tells Daily Report. "Nothing is more important than our basic constitutional rights. No bus system or government service, however well intentioned, is worth violating that." Graugnard declines to comment further except to say the petition speaks for itself. That petition, filed last Friday in the 19th Judicial District, is the first of what will likely be several lawsuits over the tax, and comes after months of controversy and criticism about the way the taxing district was created and the way the special election was held. The suit asks the court for a permanent injunction against the tax on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, noting that only voters residing within the city limits of Baton Rouge and Baker were able to vote on the tax, even though CATS service is not limited to the Baton Rouge and Baker municipal areas. (Zachary residents also voted on the tax and rejected it, and therefore were not at issue in this suit.) "The selected tax districts were chosen by the CATS board of commissioners on the basis of political expedience," the petition reads. "The selected tax districts do not correspond to the CATS service area or reflect any other recognizable interest of CATS." The suit goes on to read: "By providing equal or, in some instances, even greater benefits to untaxed parties outside the Baton Rouge and Baker areas at the expense of those owning property inside city limits, the CATS tax violates both the federal Equal Protection Clause and, by necessity, Louisiana's greater equal protection guarantee." No response from CATS has been filed. Calls seeking comments from CATS officials were not returned as of press time. —Stephanie Riegel