Reference no: EM132245168

The town of Funkytown has an ordinance detailing garbage collection for residents of the town. The law provides for free garbage collection for all single-family homes, for all apartment complexes with three or fewer apartments, and for condominium complexes of any size as long as one person or entity owns no more than 50% of the condos. ABC Realty Co. owns Tranquil Gardens, an apartment complex consisting of 140 apartment units. Under the garbage collection law noted above, Tranquil Gardens does not receive free garbage collection from Funkytown. ABC sues Funkytown, claiming that the garbage collection ordinance is unconstitutional because it violates ABC’s right to equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the United States Constitution. ABC demands that Funkytown provide the same free garbage collection service to Tranquil Gardens that is provided to other residents. Funkytown claims that the law is based on two important governmental, or state, interests:

First, the state has an interest in promoting and encouraging home ownership. Funkytown claims that providing free garbage collection, as detailed in the law, promotes home ownership. However, the town performed no studies or surveys indicating that people are more inclined to purchase a home if free garbage collection service is provided. Town statistics of home ownership indicate that approximately 42% of the residential dwellings that receive free garbage collection are not occupied by their owners and only 27% and 12% of the two- and three-unit apartment complexes, respectively, are owner-occupied.

Second, Funkytown says that condominiums are taxed differently than apartments so they provide a greater source of property tax revenue for the town and that this is in the state’s interest and is a reason for the law. In support of this contention, Funkytown’s real estate appraiser says that condominiums generally sell for a substantially higher price than apartment units. Therefore, the assessed value, based merely on the type of dwelling, can be as much as two or three times greater for a condo than for an apartment. However, ABC argues, and Funkytown concedes, that apartment complexes, condominium complexes, and single-family homes are all assessed at true value for taxation purposes. In other words, apartments, condos, and single-family homes are all being taxed based upon what an individual dwelling unit is worth. The point of ABC’s argument is if apartment owners are paying less tax per unit, it is only because the apartments are worth less than condos, not because of a different tax scheme as Funkytown asserts.

At trial, the court determined that the garbage collection ordinance was unconstitutional. The court ordered Funkytown to collect garbage from plaintiff’s apartment complex subject to the same terms and conditions as it collects garbage from condominium complexes. On appeal, the appellate court reversed, finding that the law did not violate equal protection and was therefore constitutional. ABC ultimately appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. How does the Court generally deal with questions involving equal protection? How will the Court deal with the issues in this particular case? Will the Court hold that the Funkytown garbage collection ordinance violates the Equal Protection clause? Why or why not? Fully discuss how the Court would likely analyze this case.