Union Pacific Railroad v. City of Long Beach

At issue in this appeal is the constitutionality of two related City of Long Beach Municipal Code sections.

*598 Section 6100.99.1, enacted in 1962, provides that “Every person conducting, managing or carrying on the business of producing oil from any well located in the City of Long Beach, including the City of Long Beach when functioning in the capacity of a unit operator, shall pay the sum or sums, in the manner and to the extent hereinafter provided,” and that the sum due is to be paid quarterly in an amount “equaling three cents per quarter for each barrel of oil produced by each . . . well in excess of three hundred (300) barrels per quarter.” The plaintiffs below, comprising individuals, corporations or partnerships involved in oil extraction in Long Beach, paid the tax levied by this ordinance and then brought suit to have their monies refunded on the ground that the section was invalid. The trial court ruled against the plaintiffs who now appeal.

Section 6100.99.2, also enacted in 1962 as a companion to the first, provides:

The trial court held this section to be invalid but severable from section 6100.99.1. The determination of invalidity is challenged by the…