Midwest Railcar Repair, Inc. v. South Dakota Dept. of Revenue, No. 10-2630 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseMidwest sued the Department, seeking a declaration that South Dakota had a taxation scheme that violated a provision of the federal Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act (4-R Act), 49 U.S.C. 11501(b)(4). The complaint alleged in part that the 4-R Act's bar on discriminatory taxes against rail carriers extended to Midwest. The district court denied Midwest's motion for summary judgment and granted the Department's, concluding that court precedent did not support extending the protections of the 4-R Act to Midwest. The court held that, in light of Midwest's bare assertions that South Dakota's tax had the effect of discriminating against rail carriers, the district court did not err in ruling as it did. Any ruling to the contrary would have required the district court to rely upon speculation with respect to whether South Dakota's taxes on railcar repair services performed by a privately owned, third-party service provider and any tangible personal property used therein impermissibly resulted in discriminatory treatment of a rail carrier. Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed.
Court Description: Civil case - Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act. Based on the record before it, the district court did not err in ruling that the Act's bar on certain discriminatory taxes against rail carriers did not extend to plaintiff, a privately owned company that repairs rail cars. Judge Bye, dissenting.
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