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LIVINGSTON PARISH COUNCIL ON AGING v. GRAVES
LIVINGSTON PARISH COUNCIL ON AGING,
v.
WILLIE GRAVES, SHERIFF OF LIVINGSTON PARISH.
No. 2011 CA 0787.
Court of Appeals of Louisiana, First Circuit.
December 21, 2011.
Jill L. Craft, Baton Rouge, LA, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee, Livingston Parish Council on Aging.
BEFORE: WHIPPLE, KUHN, AND GUIDRY, JJ.
GUIDRY, J. Willie Graves, Sheriff of Livingston Parish (Sheriff), appeals from a judgment of the trial court ordering that all commission funds or fees collected in connection with the two mil assessment for the Livingston Parish Council on Aging (LPCOA) be turned over to the Parish of Livingston, through the LPCOA, and further ordering that no commissions or fees be deducted or collected in the future by the Sheriff on this milage. For the reasons that follow, we reverse. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORYIn 2003, the LPCOA, a non-profit corporation serving the needs of the elderly in Livingston Parish, adopted Resolution Number 03-428, authorizing an election to establish a two mil property tax for a period of ten years to be used by the LPCOA to pay costs of programs for the elderly. The millage proposition was subsequently passed by a majority vote of the electorate of Livingston Parish on November 15, 2003. In 2004, the Sheriff began collecting the property tax on behalf of the LPCOA and deducted a commission in the amount of twelve percent of the taxes collected. On March 24, 2010, the LPCOA filed a petition for declaratory judgment and other relief seeking a judgment from the court declaring that the Sheriffs collection of a commission from the property tax is improper, and seeking a judgment requiring the Sheriff to remit the collected commissions to the LPCOA. Following a hearing, the trial court signed a judgment on January 12, 2011, ordering all commission funds or fees collected by the Sheriff from December 2004 to the present in connection with the two mil assessment be immediately turned over to the LPCOA and ordering that no commissions or fees be deducted or collected in the future by the Sheriff on this milage. Sheriff Graves now appeals from this judgment, asserting that the trial court erred in finding that 1976 La. Acts No. 689 does not permit a Sheriff from charging a commission for the collection of taxes that were not on the tax rolls for the tax year ending in 1977. DISCUSSIONQuestions of law, such as the proper interpretation of a statute, are reviewed by this court under the de novo standard of review. Land v. Vidrine, 10-1342, p. 4 (La. 3/15/11), 62 So.3d 36, 39. After our review, we render judgment on the record, without deference to the legal conclusions of the tribunals below. Land, 10-1342 at p. 4, 62 So. 3d at 39.
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