California Cigarette Concessions, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

I dissent. I would affirm the judgment for the reasons expressed by Mr. Justice Pourt in the opinion prepared by him for the District Court of Appeal (Cal.App.), 343 P.2d 130 .

Schauer, J., concurred.

Defendant appeals from a judgment entered in plaintiff’s favor in an action to recover municipal business license taxes allegedly overpaid for the years 1951-1954, inclusive.

There is practically no dispute concerning the facts. Plain *867 tiff is engaged in the business of selling cigarettes to the public by means of automatic vending machines placed in various retail establishments, such as restaurants, cafés and bars within the county of Los Angeles. Agreements for placement of the machines are ordinarily negotiated with the various retail owners at their places of business by plaintiff's sales manager or his assistant, whose offices are in the city of Los Angeles. Plaintiff services these machines at regular intervals through its “servicemen,” who pick up the cigarettes from plaintiff’s warehouse in the city of Los Angeles and place them in the machines, collect the money and take it to the Los Angeles office, and from there it is deposited in a Los Angeles bank. The sales manager’s staff and the “servicemen” are controlled by the general manager, whose office is in Los Angeles. Many of the machines arc located outside of the city limits of Los Angeles, and many are located…