Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District v. City of Tempe

OPINION

FROEB, Judge.

In this appeal, the City of Tempe asks this court to hold that it may impose a use tax on the storage of property by the Salt River Project (SRP) in Tempe, although the property is ultimately used outside the city limits. We find the Tempe ordinance does not allow the imposition of the tax.

SRP owns and operates a storage facility in the City of Tempe. The facility is used for the temporary warehousing of various materials and equipment eventually used by SRP in the generation and distribution of electricity. Ultimately, the property is used throughout Maricopa County,…