Blue Star Line, Inc. v. City & County of San Francisco

Respondent City and County of San Francisco levies a tax upon the payrolls of employers who conduct business within its territorial limits. In two actions brought against it by appellants and other plaintiffs, they asserted the claim that various provisions of the United States Constitution invalidated the levy, as to them, because their local business activity engaged them in maritime foreign commerce at the ocean port of San Francisco. The appeal is from a portion of a *432 declaratory judgment, entered in the actions as consolidated, which denies the constitutional claim as to appellants.

The consolidated cause was submitted upon the pleadings, a lengthy written statement of stipulated facts, and some selected depositions and documentary exhibits which were stipulated into evidence. These sources support the following recitals (in which the direct quotations are from the statement of stipulated facts):

The Payroll Tax

The tax is levied pursuant to a “Payroll Expense Tax Ordinance” adopted by respondent in 1970. Pertinent provisions of the ordinance are quoted in the margin. 1 It is also described in decisions which have previously adjudicated its validity and effect…