Salt River Project, Etc. v. City of Phoenix

7 Citing cases

  1. Gorenc v. Salt River Project Agr. Imp. Power

    869 F.2d 503 (9th Cir. 1989)   Cited 121 times
    Holding that an entity designated as a "political subdivision" in the state constitution was not a state actor where the entity, "in the hiring and firing of its employees . . . acts as a private company, that is, in a proprietary manner not in a governmental manner"

    Unlike public entities, Salt River is only immune from taxation on those activities that are its primary government purpose. Salt River Project v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 400, 631 P.2d 553, 555 (1981). Salt River's governmental powers are "limited to the purposes justifying its political existence," Niedner, 590 P.2d at 448 (quoting City of Mesa v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power Dist., 92 Ariz. 91, 97, 373 P.2d 722, 726 (1962)), such as the power to levy taxes on real property located within the district, to sell tax-exempt bonds and to exercise eminent domain, Ball, 451 U.S. at 360, 101 S.Ct. at 1815, but it has no power to impose ad valorem property taxes or sales taxes, or to enact general laws.

  2. City of Wenatchee, Corp. v. Chelan Cnty. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1, Corp.

    181 Wn. App. 326 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014)   Cited 6 times
    Noting the surveys suggest that most Washington cities rely on a utility tax on water

    101 Wash.2d at 794, 681 P.2d 1281. As authority for this statement, Algona cites Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553 (Ct.App.1981), a case it cites elsewhere as the principal authority for the theory of governmental immunity to which the majority of jurisdictions subscribe. See Algona, 101 Wash.2d at 793–94, 681 P.2d 1281.

  3. SolarCity Corp. v. Salt River Project Agric. Improvement & Power Dist.

    859 F.3d 720 (9th Cir. 2017)   Cited 13 times
    Noting that the "Supreme Court has allowed immediate appeals from" interlocutory denials of Eleventh Amendment immunity, absolute and qualified immunity, foreign sovereign immunity, and tribal sovereign immunity

    The Power District is not only a supplier of power; it is also a political subdivision of Arizona. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 48-2302 ; accord, e.g. , City of Mesa v. Salt River Project Agric. Improv. & Power Dist. , 101 Ariz. 74, 416 P.2d 187, 188–89 (1966) (summarizing the Power District's history and status); Salt River Project Agric. Improv. & Power Dist. v. City of Phoenix , 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553, 555 (1981) (same). It moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing, among other things, that it has authority to set prices under Arizona law and so is immune from federal antitrust lawsuits.

  4. King County v. Algona

    101 Wn. 2d 789 (Wash. 1984)   Cited 14 times
    In Algona, we concluded that the doctrine of governmental immunity from taxation barred the city of Algona from levying a tax on King County's solid waste facility.

    See generally 84 C.J.S. Taxation § 213 (1954); 1 C. Sands M. Libonati, Local Government Law § 5.14 (1981). The majority of jurisdictions adhere to this rule on the theory that a local tax imposed on a political subdivision such as a county is tantamount to a tax imposed on the State. Salt River Project Agricultural Imp. Power Dist. v. Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553 (Ct.App. 1981); Dickinson v. Tallahassee, 325 So.2d 1 (Fla. 1975); Philadelphia v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 8 Pa. Commw. 280, 303 A.2d 247 (1973); Willoughby Hills v. Board of Park Comm'rs, 3 Ohio St.2d 49, 209 N.E.2d 162 (1965).

  5. Maricopa Cty. v. Mun. Water Conserv

    171 Ariz. 325 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1992)   Cited 14 times
    Concluding that because the municipality possessed the express power to establish, maintain, and regulate public parks, it also possessed the implied power to perform those functions, including the assessment of fees on park users

    108 Ariz. at 153, 494 P.2d at 25. In Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement Power District v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 402, 631 P.2d 553, 557 (1981), the court held that an improvement district may exercise a proprietary power and sell surplus electricity because this activity is incidental to its primary purpose of producing electricity to reclaim and irrigate arid lands. Just as providing irrigation water by means of a dam system provides the opportunity for electrical generation or the ability to engage in domestic water service, a reservoir provides opportunities for public recreation such as swimming, boating and fishing.

  6. Flowing Wells Irr. Dist. v. Tucson

    863 P.2d 915 (Ariz. Tax Ct. 1993)   Cited 2 times

    Governmental activities are exempt from taxation. City of Phoenix v. City of Goodyear, 174 Ariz. 529, 851 P.2d 154 (Tax 1993); Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power Dist. v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553 (App. 1981). Proprietary activities of a government, however, are taxable. A governmental function is generally recognized as one undertaken because of a duty imposed on the entity for the welfare or protection of its citizens or a function that is fundamentally inherent in or encompassed within the basic nature of government. Copper Country Mobile Home v. City of Globe, 131 Ariz. 329, 333, 641 P.2d 243, 247 (App. 1982); Book-Cellar, Inc. v. City of Phoenix, 150 Ariz. 42, 44, 721 P.2d 1169, 1171 (App. 1986).

  7. City of Phoenix v. City of Goodyear

    174 Ariz. 529 (Ariz. Tax Ct. 1993)   Cited 1 times

    It is true, as Phoenix points out, that governmental activities are exempt from taxation. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power Dist. v. City of Phoenix, 129 Ariz. 398, 631 P.2d 553 (App. 1981). Phoenix cites City of Phoenix v. Moore, 57 Ariz. 350, 113 P.2d 935 (1941) as direct support for its position here stating that Moore holds that income from admission fees to city swimming pools and golf courses is based upon the governmental activities of providing health, welfare, and recreational activities for the benefit of the city's citizens and, as such, is immune from taxation.