Procedural Sufficiency of State Remedies – Local Tax System

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Kelly J. Cosgriff, et al. v. County of Winnebago, et al.

Case No.: 17-1396

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Procedural Sufficiency of State Remedies – Local Tax System

A dog bit a Roscoe Township employee on Kelly and Anita Cosgriff’s property. After the employee and the township sued the Cosgriffs, the Cosgriffs started a petition campaign encouraging taxpayers to notify the township that its employees should not trespass on private property.  The Cosgriffs’ next property assessment set by the township was significantly higher than their last. The Cosgriffs challenged the increased assessment through a hearing before the Winnebago County Board of Review, the Illinois County in which Roscoe Township is located. The Board ruled in favor of the Cosgriffs and substantially reduced the new assessment.

The Cosgriffs then sued Winnebago County and numerous individual defendants in federal district court. The Cosgriffs principally allege that the defendants acted unconstitutionally when they increased the Cosgriffs’ property assessment because the Cosgriffs spoke out against township employees trespassing on private property.   The district court dismissed the Cosgriffs’ § 1983 claims, reasoning that comity principles barred federal courts from hearing these federal claims. The court also relinquished supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state‐law claims. The Cosgriffs appealed the dismissal of their federal claims.

“The focus is on the procedural sufficiency of state remedies, not their substantive outcomes.” Id. at 714. Thus, consistent with our previous decision in Capra, the Cosgriffs cannot bring their tax‐related claims in federal court. Because the Cosgriffs challenge the administration of a local tax system under § 1983, their claims fall outside the scope of the statute, in accordance with Fair Assessment. The available state remedies are plain, adequate, and complete.   The Cosgriffs did not appeal the district court’s decision to relinquish supplemental jurisdiction over their remaining state‐law claims. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of the Cosgriffs’ federal‐law claims and relinquishment of jurisdiction over their state‐law claims.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.