Alabama Supreme Court Partially Reverses Tuscaloosa Business License Fee Ordinance Ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court issued a decision partially reversing and remanding a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a Tuscaloosa city ordinance that imposed higher business license fees on certain student-oriented housing developments. The taxpayers, out-of-state owners and operators of multifamily housing developments, sued the city alleging the ordinance violated equal protection, due process, and the dormant Commerce Clause. The court found that the taxpayers had sufficiently pleaded claims for equal protection, due process, and dormant Commerce Clause violations to survive a motion to dismiss, allowing these claims to proceed. However, it affirmed the dismissal of the claim that ...