Acciona Windpower v. City of West Branch, No. 16-1735 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe city entered into an agreement with Acciona, a manufacturer and installer of wind generation systems, where Acciona would expand its business in West Branch if the city would consider rebating a portion of Acciona's taxes each year for eight years. After paying rebates for three years, the city refused to pay subsequent rebates and ultimately cancelled the agreement. The district court concluded that the city breached the contract and awarded Acciona damages. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Acciona's actions were essentially harmless because they resulted in no surprise or prejudice to the City. In this case, Acciona sought compensatory damages for multiple fiscal years from the very beginning of this lawsuit. Acciona's pretrial clarification that the company would seek compensatory damages for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 was therefore entirely consistent with the theory of damages articulated by Acciona. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Kelly, Circuit Judge, and Montgomery, District Judge] Civil case - Contracts. The district court did not err in determining defendant City of West Branch breached the parties' contract in which it agreed to rebate a portion of plaintiff's taxes for eight years if plaintiff would expand its business into the City; the district court's interpretation of the contract is consistent with its plain language and gives full effect to all of the agreement's provisions; the agreement does not violate Iowa law as municipalities have the ability to make the kind of tax rebate payments contemplated by the agreement; claim plaintiff impermissibly changed its theory of damages on the eve of trial rejected.
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