Indianapolis. - The Supreme Court has ruled Monday in favor of the city of Indianapolis that changed its plan for sewer line after collecting the taxes for it from homeowners in the case of Armour v. Indianapolis, 11-161.
The homeowners sought to get a refund for a new sewer line tax they paid, which was ultimately got cancelled in 2004. However, the court ruled in a 6-3 ruling in favor of the city of Indianapolis. According to the ruling, no taxes were to be refunded, however the remaining taxes for those who paid in installments would be pardoned, as reported by the Associated Press.
Some taxpayers who paid the whole amount up front lost as much as $9,278. These citizens argued that the city violated their constitutional Equal Protection Clause. Others paid in installments ranging over 10 to 30 years with interest.
As reported by Associated Press, in the majority report, Justice Stephen Breyer said that "Indianapolis acted properly in changing the payment system because it wanted to reduce the administrative headaches of debt collection."
Justice John Roberts, who wrote the dissent, stated that the ruling was unfair to those who paid the full amount and that the "court was wrong to endorse such a gross disparity in tax treatment."
The entire case can be found here.
