Missouri Supreme Court orders judgment in Business Loop CID case
The Missouri Supreme Court has ordered a Boone County judge to issue a final judgment in a case challenging theformation of a special taxing district along part of Business Loop 70.
The court on Tuesday issued a writ directing the circuit court to issue a final judgment that can be appealed in Jen Henderson’s case against the Business Loop 70 Community Improvement District.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in September.
Henderson had originally argued the election which formed the distict, which levies a half-cent sales tax along part of Business Loop 70 to fund public improvements, was not valid and lacked a secret balloting process. Boone County Judge Jodie Asel dismissed the suit in March 2016, ruling that the law that authorizes community improvement districts did not apply to the election that formed the district.
Henderson had tried to appeal the decision but could not because Asel had not made her order dismissing the case a final judgment. Tuesday’s decision opens the door for Henderson to appeal the case itself to a higher court.
“Because there is no doubt the circuit court intended its dismissal order to resolve all of Henderson’s claims against the district, it is a judgment, and the circuit court is required to denominate it as such,” the court wrote in its opinion.
Henderson sought a writ requiring the final judgment after the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed her appeal because there was not an appealable judgment.
Jim Layton, who represented Henderson before the Missouri Supreme Court, said the decision is a long time coming.
“Jennifer Henderson has been trying for more than three years to challenge the sales tax election for the Business Loop CID,” Layton wrote in an emailed statement. “For much of that time, her efforts were frustrated by the circuit judge’s refusal to enter a final judgment. Now she can expect some action in her case–at the very least, an opportunity to appeal. “
