Orleans Parish School Board v. The City Of New Orleans And Norman White, In His Official Capacity As The Chief Financial Officer For The City Of New Orleans

Supreme Court of Louisiana
December 22, 2020
Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
ORLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
VS.
THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND NORMAN
WHITE, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS
THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR THE
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
No.2020-C-00932
_ _ _ _ _ _
I
N RE: The City of New Orleans - Applicant Defendant; Norman White,
individually and in his capacity as Chief Financial Officer for the City of New
Orleans - Applicant Defendant; Applying For Writ Of Certiorari, Parish of Orleans
Civil, Orleans Civil District Court Number(s) 2019-05174, Court of Appeal, Fourth
Circuit, Number(s) 2020-CA-0043;
_ _ _ _ _ _
December 22, 2020
Writ application granted in part. See per curiam.
Johnson, C.J., would grant and docket.
Weimer, J., would grant and docket.
JDH
SJC
JTG
WJC
JBM
12/22/2020 “See News Release 050 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents.”

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
N
o. 2020-C-0932
O
RLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
VE
RSUS
TH
E CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND NORMAN WHITE, IN HIS
OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR THE
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
ON
SUPERVISORY WRIT TO THE CIVIL DISTRICT COURT,
PARISH OF ORLEANS
P
ER CURIAM
Writ granted in part and denied in part . In this case the court of appeal
enjoined the City of New Orleans from withholding tax proceeds collected on behalf
of the Orleans Parish School Board in order for the City to fund various retirement
systems. It also enjoined the City from withholding a collection fee of 1.6% pursuant
to La. R.S. 47:338.107(C) from sales and use taxes collected for the School Board,
and from withholding a collection fee of 2% pursuant to La. R.S. 47:1997.1 from ad
valorem taxes collected for the School Board. This matter is now before us on the
application of the City.
12/22/2020

2

The court of appe al held that a “ constitutional directive ” prevented the
application of La. R.S. 47:1997.1, and as to La. R.S. 47:338.107(C), citing La. Const.
art. VII § 14(A) and jurisprudence holding that dedicated taxes collected by the City
could not be constitutionally diverted from political subdivisions in cases not
involving the Orleans Parish School Board , concluded the rationale of tho se cases
to be “equally applicable” in this instance.
While there appears to be no statutory authority for the City to divert School
Board tax monies to fund retirement systems, the withholding of a collection fee for
sales and use taxes and ad valorem taxes is addressed by legislation. Without
addressing the constitutionality or merits of these statutes, we note that issues of
constitutionality are not properly resolved in summary fashion. See Barber v.
Louisiana Workforce Commission, 15-1700, p. 1 (La. 10/9/15), 176 So.3d 398,
398 (per curiam). See also Farmer’s Seafood Company v. State ex rel.
Department of Public Safety, 10-1534, pp. 2-3 (La. 9/3/10), 44 So.3d 676, 678 (per
curiam); Women’s Health Clinic v. State, 01-2645, p. 2 (La. 11/9/01), 804 So.2d
625, 626 (per curiam); Kruger v. Garden District Association , 99-3344, pp. 2 -3
(La. 3/24/00), 756 So.2d 309, 311 (per curiam).
Issues of constitutionality are properly raised in an ordinary proceeding where
a full record can be developed and a finding of unconstitutionality can be appealed
directly to the supreme court.

3

Accordingly, we vacate the issuance of the preliminary injunctions enjoining
the City of New Orleans from withholding a collection fee from the proceeds of sales
and use taxes an d ad valorem taxes collected by it for the Orleans Parish School
Board, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings. In all other respects the
writ is denied.