TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-18-00617-CV
Reagan National Advertising of Austin, Inc., Appellant
v.
City of Austin and Spencer Cronk, in his Official Capacity, Appellees
FROM THE 200TH DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY
NO. D-1-GN-12-001211, THE HONORABLE DUSTIN M. HOWELL, JUDGE PRESIDING
CONCURRING OPINION
I concur with the Court’s opinion because our mandate to the trial court was
specific and narrow. As a procedural matter, it was not within the trial court’s mandate here to
reopen evidence to consider damages not previously sought or to issue an injunction against new
actions taken by the City of Austin.
I write separately to emphasize that an injunction should not be necessary to
enforce this Court’s judgment or to protect taxpayers from the assessment of a tax that we have
determined is unconstitutional. Especially where, as here, both the Texas Supreme Court and the
United States Supreme Court have rejected the City’s appeals from that decision. We have a
limited record before us as to the nature of the tax the City of Austin now seeks to collect, but it
is troubling to think that the City would waste more taxpayer and judicial resources by levying
the same unconstitutional tax.
__________________________________________
Jeff Rose, Chief Justice
Before Chief Justice Rose, Justices Kelly and Smith
Filed: August 9, 2019
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