Mount Saint Mary's Cemetery Assn. v. Mullins

Background

Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery Association, a Missouri corporation that owns and manages a cemetery and sells burial lots, was assessed special tax bills to pay for two district sewers in Kansas City. The Association sued in state court; the Missouri Supreme Court considered the case three times and held that the cemetery’s land could be assessed, that lot buyers held only burial rights, and that the tax bills could be issued against the cemetery grounds. The case reached the United States Supreme Court on the ground that the assessment violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections of fair procedure and equal treatment.

Reasoning

The federal question was whether the sewer assessment deprived the Association of property without fair process or denied equal protection. The state courts found the sewer district covered about 407 acres and the cemetery about 34 acres, that the sewers drained surface water from the cemetery and likely aided sanitation, and that lot purchasers had only a burial easement while the cemetery retained the fee title. The Court accepted those findings, held that local officials’ decision to include the cemetery was not shown to be arbitrary, and said the owner had a full opportunity to be heard in the judicial proceedings enforcing the tax. For those reasons, the assessment did not violate due process or equal protection.

Real world impact

Cities may include cemeteries in sewer districts and levy special sewer assessments when evidence shows a benefit and no arbitrary action. Buyers of burial lots generally keep only burial rights, not full fee ownership for tax assessment purposes. The judgment affirming the assessment was final and was not overturned here.