Atlanta Hospitality Workers, Inc. v. City of Atlanta

Miller, Judge.

Various owners of restaurants and bars holding liquor licenses from the City of Atlanta refused to pay a liquor excise tax deficiency assessed by the Atlanta City Department of Finance. Instead of paying the deficiency and then seeking a refund as provided in OCGA § 48-5-380, the owners filed a declaratory judgment action against the City, requesting under the auspices of 42 USC § 1983: (1) an injunction to prevent the collection of the deficiency, (2) a declaratory judgment that the deficiency notice was itself a new, illegal excise tax imposed by an unauthorized body, and (3)…