Opinion
NO. 03-18-00617-CV
08-09-2019
Reagan National Advertising of Austin, Inc., Appellant v. City of Austin and Spencer Cronk, in his Official Capacity, Appellees
FROM THE 200TH DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY
NO. D-1-GN-12-001211 , THE HONORABLE DUSTIN M. HOWELL, JUDGE PRESIDING CONCURRING OPINION
I concur with the Court's opinion because our mandate to the trial court was specific and narrow. As a procedural matter, it was not within the trial court's mandate here to reopen evidence to consider damages not previously sought or to issue an injunction against new actions taken by the City of Austin.
I write separately to emphasize that an injunction should not be necessary to enforce this Court's judgment or to protect taxpayers from the assessment of a tax that we have determined is unconstitutional. Especially where, as here, both the Texas Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court have rejected the City's appeals from that decision. We have a limited record before us as to the nature of the tax the City of Austin now seeks to collect, but it is troubling to think that the City would waste more taxpayer and judicial resources by levying the same unconstitutional tax.
/s/_________
Jeff Rose, Chief Justice Before Chief Justice Rose, Justices Kelly and Smith Filed: August 9, 2019