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Robert Duncan v. The City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
ROBERT DUNCAN, ET AL. NO. 2021 CW 0311 VERSUS PAGE 1 OF 2
THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE, PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, ET AL. APRIL 26, 2021
In Re: City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge,
applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 679099.
BEFORE: GUIDRY, M- CLENDON, AND LANIER, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47: 2134( C)( 1) requires that plaintiffs, as " person[ s] resisting the payment of an amount of ad valorem tax due or the enforcement of a
provision of the ad valorem tax law ... timely pay the disputed amount due under protest to the officer or officers designated by law for the collection of the tax and shall give such officer or officers, notice at the time of payment of [ their] intention to file suit for the recovery of the protested tax." Moreover, La. R. S. 47: 2134( C)( 2) requires that "[ a] legality challenge
suit must be filed within thirty days from the date of the protested payment." Here, plaintiffs do not specifically allege that they paid the disputed amounts under protest nor that they filed suit within thirty days from the date of the protested
payments. Moreover, while La. R. S. 47: 2134( E)( 1) does not
require multiple suits when a legality challenge has been made, the taxpayer is nonetheless still required to pay the assessment under protest and agree to abide by the pending decision of the courts. Plaintiffs do not allege that they did so herein.
Further, to La. R. S. 47: 2132, its recover under following amendment by 2020 La. Acts 297, requires that a plaintiff must
prevail[ ] in a suit pursuant to R. S. 47: 2134( C)." See La. R. S. 47: 2132( 2)( a). As noted above, plaintiffs cannot prevail
in a suit brought under La. R. S. 47: 2134( C) given that they did not allege that they paid the disputed amounts under protest and filed suit within thirty days therefrom. Even assuming that the version of La. R. S. 47: 2132 in effect prior to the 2020 amendment applies herein, a party raising a legality challenge
still must meet the requirements in La. R. S. 47: 2134 to be afforded a remedy under La. R. S. 47: 2132. See e. g., New Orleans Riverwalk Marketplace, LLC v. Louisiana, 2017- 0968 ( La. App. 4th Cir. 4/ 30/ 18), 243 So. 3d 1070, writ denied, 2018- 0889 ( La. 9/ 28/ 18), 252 So. 3d 925. Because plaintiffs have not followed the mandates in La. R. S. 47: 2134( C), they cannot recover under
either version of La. R. S. 47: 2132.
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
NO. 2021 CW 0311
PAGE 2 OF 2
Accordingly, we hereby grant the writ application, and we
reverse the trial court' s October 6, 2020 judgment to the extent it denied the exceptions of no cause of action and prescription
filed by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge. We sustain the exceptions of prescription and no cause of
action, and we dismiss plaintiffs' action against the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge with prejudice.
JMG PMC WIL