Alumax Foils, Inc. v. City of St. Louis

CRANDALL, Judge.

Plaintiffs1 are industrial and commercial enterprises conducting business within the City of St. Louis (hereinafter City). They appeal from the judgment of the trial court upholding the validity of a City ordinance imposing a license fee of 11 percent of the cost of natural gas they purchased from suppliers outside the City but used within the City.2 We reverse and remand.

The facts were submitted to the court as a joint stipulation of facts. Those facts established that plaintiffs had commercial and industrial facilities located within the City. They consumed natural gas in…