Festival Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Pleasant Hill

We hold that the city’s “admissions tax,” as applied to plaintiff theatre owners, imposes an impermissible burden on protected speech in violation of the free speech and equal protection clauses of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. We need not address contentions on the cross-appeal that this admissions tax was a “special tax” enacted in violation of article XIII A, section 4 of the California Constitution.

Plaintiffs are theatre owners who operate the only theatres in defendant City of Pleasant Hill. On September 26,1983, the Pleasant Hill City Council adopted Ordinance No. 525, adding chapter 11.28 to the Pleasant Hill Municipal Code, which levies a 5 percent tax on the admission price of sporting events, movie theatres, concerts, shows, museums, performances, displays and exhibitions within the city. This tax was enacted primarily to provide revenue for needed street repairs. In an April 5, 1983, memorandum to the city council, the city manager explained the need to raise approximately $335,000 for necessary street repairs. The tax scheme proposed, and later approved by the city council, included one tax increase and three new…