10/2/2010
Omaha, Nebraska – Various restaurant owners, represented by their lawyers, filed an injunction in a Douglas County Courthouse in order to block the implementation of the restaurant tax amount to 2.5 percent. The restaurant owners called the tax as unconstitutional, unenforceable, and illegal.
The lawsuit filed by various restaurant owners claimed that the new tax was actually a sales tax, and the city itself would be breaking the law if it would try to collect it.
One restaurant owner, Chuck Caniglia, said that the tax was unfair. He said that because something is being done to stop the restaurant tax, he could rest better.
Attorney Woody Bradford, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the restaurant owners said that there is a very good chance for the restaurant owners to win. He, along with his clients, do believe that the restaurant tax is in effect, actually a sales tax.
The restaurants argued that the city is only limited to a maximum of 1.5% hike in sales task if it is without the approval of the Nebraska Legislature. They claimed in the injunction that the city “has usurped and infringed upon the constitutional power of the legislature to establish sales tax rates.”
On the other hand, Tom Mumgaard, the city attorney said that if the restaurant tax is not implemented, then the city would lose millions of dollars every month.
