Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

Atmos Energy Corporation, a local distributing company, contracted with independent gas marketing companies to purchase natural gas then delivered gas to customers through local pipelines. Following an audit, Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) staff indicated that Atmos had failed to comply with affiliate transaction rules by failing to document properly the fair market value and fully distributed cost of its transactions with its affiliate, Atmos Energy Marketing LLC (AEM). The staff then proposed a disallowance regarding Atmos' transactions with AEM. After an evidentiary hearing, the PSC found compliance with the affiliate transaction rules and rejected the proposed disallowances. The Office of Public Counsel (OPC) appealed, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the PSC erred in relying upon a presumption of prudence in rejecting staff and OPC's proposed disallowance regarding Atmos's transactions with AEM. Remanded. View "Office of Pub. Counsel v. Mo. Pub. Serv. Comm'n" on Justia Law

Plaintiff owned and operated a public golf course and rented golf carts to golfers. The director of revenue issued an assessment of unpaid sales taxes on the golf cart rentals, finding that because the cart rentals were mandatory, they were subject to sales tax regardless of the fact that Plaintiff had paid sales tax when it purchased the carts. The administrative hearing commission reversed, finding that Plaintiff did not owe sales tax on the golf cart rentals because it previously paid sales tax on its purchase or lease of the carts. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, pursuant to Mo. Rev. Stat. 144.020.1(8) and Westwood Country Club v. Director of Revenue, Plaintiff was not required to charge sales tax on the golf cart rentals. View "PF Golf, LLC v. Dir. of Revenue" on Justia Law

Driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI). The Director of Revenue (DOR) subsequently suspended Driver's license and disqualified him from driving a commercial motor vehicle. Driver filed a petition for a trial de novo in the trial court challenging the constitutional validity of Mo. Rev. Stat. 302.700 and 302.755, which disqualify drivers who are convicted of an alcohol-related traffic offense from driving a commercial vehicle for not less than one year. The trial court ruled that sections 302.500 and 302.700 violated the U.S. Constitution based on National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (hereinafter NFIB) and reinstated Driver's driving privileges, including his commercial driver's license (CDL). The Supreme Court (1) reversed the trial court's judgment as to the constitutional validity of section 302.700 under NFIB, holding that NFIB was inapplicable to Driver's argument; and (2) denied Driver's due process and equal protection arguments, finding that they were without merit. View "Bone v. Dir. of Revenue" on Justia Law

The Director of Revenue determined that Jonathan Eilian underpaid his 2006 Missouri taxes because he used his federal "net operating loss" (NOL) to offset income that was taxable under Missouri law but not taxable under federal law. Eilian brought a complaint before the Administrative Hearing Commission challenging the Director's decision. The Commission ruled in favor of Eilian. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Brown Group Inc. v. Administrative Hearing Commission was dispositive of the legal issues in this appeal and precluded Eilian from using his NOL to offset all of his Missouri-taxable income. Remanded to the Commission to recalculate Eilian's Missouri tax liability for 2006. View "Eilian v. Dir. of Revenue" on Justia Law

Veteran filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits alleging that he sustained an injury during the course of his employment with Employer. Veteran received care and treatment for that injury at a United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility, which Employer did not authorize. The VA petitioned for a writ to compel the chief ALJ to allow the VA's intervention in the proceeding, claiming entitlement to intervene as a matter of right under 38 U.S.C. 1729 and the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause. The circuit court denied the VA's petition. The Supreme Court reversed and issued a permanent writ of mandamus, holding that section 1729 and the supremacy clause gave the VA the right to intervene in Veteran's workers' compensation claim to assert its claim for recovery of health care provided to him. View "U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs v. Boresi" on Justia Law

Appellants Reva Billings and William Morrison worked at a Western Union Financial Services (Western Union) call center in Bridgeton. On July 3, 2008, Western Union advised Billings that she would be laid off on July 20 and Morrison that he would be laid off on August 7. The U.S. Department of Labor determined the employees were eligible for Trade Act benefits and set the impact date as July 15, 2008. Appellants subsequently applied for their benefits. The Missouri Division of Employment Security denied benefits to both on the grounds that they were separated from employment prior to the impact date, finding the date of separation for Appellants to be July 3, 2008. The Industrial Relations Commission affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that the Commission erred in considering Appellants to have ceased work on the date they received their contractually required advance notice of the future dates on which they would be furloughed, as the correct dates were the dates Appellants' furloughs became effective, notwithstanding that Western Union chose not to be physically present at the workplace during the notice period. View "Billings v. Div. of Employment Sec." on Justia Law

In 2001, Taxpayers bought two parcels located within a residential subdivision that was zoned residential. In 2009, the county assessor reclassified the property from residential to agricultural. The assessor assumed a commercial use on the property and thus valued it as commercial. The county board of equalization affirmed the assessor's determinations. Taxpayers appealed to the State Tax Commission (STC). A hearing officer found the appropriate classification for the property was commercial and that it should be assessed at the commercial rate as opposed to the agricultural rate. The STC affirmed the hearing officer's decision. The circuit court affirmed the STC's decision as being supported by competent and substantial evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the STC's application of the factors set forth in Mo. Rev. Stat. 137.016.5 to Taxpayers' property was supported by substantial and competent evidence in the record. View "Bateman v. Rinehart" on Justia Law

In 2010, the General Assembly enacted the Missouri Secure and Fair Enforcement Mortgage Licensing Act (Missouri SAFE Act), which provides that the director of the Missouri Division of Finance shall not issue a mortgage loan originator license to an applicant who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony within seven years prior to the date of the application. When Plaintiff subsequently submitted an application for a mortgage loan originator license, the director denied the license pursuant to the Act because Plaintiff had pleaded guilty to a felony in 2006. The circuit court entered a declaratory judgment finding that the Act was unconstitutional as applied to Plaintiff. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, as applied to Plaintiff, the statute (1) was not an unconstitutional bill of attainder; (2) did not violate the Missouri Constitution's ban on retrospective laws; and (3) did not violate Plaintiff's right to procedural and substantive due process. View "Garozzo v. Mo. Dep't of Ins., Div. of Fin." on Justia Law

Appellants, Father and Son, were arrested for driving while intoxicated during separate traffic stops. Preliminary breath tests showed Appellants' blood-alcohol contest to be over the legal limit. Father agreed to take a breathalyzer test but refused to provide sufficient breath to perform the test, and Son refused to take the breathalyzer test. The director of revenue revoked Appellants' driving privileges for one year. Appellants filed petitions for review, which the circuit court denied. Appellants appealed, asserting (1) the trial court violated their due process rights by admitting the director's records into evidence without providing them the opportunity to confront and cross-examine the director's witnesses who created the records; and (2) Mo. Rev. Stat. 302.312, which authorizes the admission of the director's records in evidence in court and administrative proceedings, is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the provision of section 302.312 authorizing the admission of the director's records by the trial court did not deny Appellants their constitutional rights to confrontation and cross-examination, as Appellants had the right to subpoena witnesses to appear at the trials on their petitions for review. View "Doughty v. Dir. of Revenue" on Justia Law

American Airlines submitted a request to the director of revenue for a refunds of sales tax it alleged it overpaid between 2004 and 2007, asserting that its sales of aviation jet fuel to two of its contractors were not subject to taxation under Mo. Rev. Stat. 144.020 because they did not constitute "sales at retail" as defined by Mo. Rev. Stat. 144.010. American asserted that it never transferred title or ownership of the fuel to the purchasers because it restricted the use of the purchased fuel so as to exercise dominion and control over it. The director denied American's request. American filed a complaint with the administration hearing commission, which determined that American was not entitled to a refund. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the record supported the factual determination that, upon delivery of the fuel, American transferred title and ownership to its contractors; and (2) therefore, the transactions constituted "sales at retail" and were subject to taxation under section 144.020. View "Am. Airlines, Inc. v. Dir. of Revenue" on Justia Law