City of Baxter v. City of Brainerd

The City of Brainerd and Brainerd Public Utilities Commission (BPUC) challenge the district court's determination that the City of Baxter may impose a revenue-raising franchise fee on a municipally-owned utility. Because Baxter does not have statutory authority to impose its franchise fee on BPUC, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

Baxter, a statutory city,1 adopted an ordinance (ordinance 2016-0232 ) that imposed a revenue-raising franchise fee solely on BPUC to fund Baxter's pavement management and street- and traffic-lighting *480activities.3 Baxter sought to enforce ordinance 2016-023 on Brainerd and…