Whether telecommunications providers have a private right of action under Section 253 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is an issue that will only be resolved in time. In November 2015, the Eighth Circuit joined the Second, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth in holding that they do not. This decision split from the Sixth and Eleventh circuits holding they do. Spectra…
The Indiana Tax Court recently examined in Aztec Partners, LLC v. Ind. Dep’t of State Revenue, No. 49T10-1210-SC-00067, 2015 Ind. Tax LEXIS 29 (Ind. Tax Ct. June 23, 2015), whether electricity that Aztec Partners, LLC (“Aztec”), who operates nineteen Qdoba Mexican Restaurants in Indiana, used to power electrical equipment was subject to Indiana sales tax. The Court found it was…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently interpreted a land developer’s contract with an Indiana town in Carroll Creek Development Company Inc. v. Town of Huntertown, 9 N.E.3d 702 (Ind. Ct. App 2014). The contract provided that the developers could recoup nearly five-hundred thousand dollars of their water main construction costs through connection charges levied against land owners in a defined…
OSHA’s final rule revised or implemented eleven provisions in the Construction of Electrical Power Transmission Standard, 29 CFR 1926, subpart V, including provisions regarding: (1) host employers and contractors; (2) training; (3) job briefings; (4) fall protection; (5) insulation and working on or near live parts; (6) minimum approach distances; (7) protection from electric arcs; (8) deenergizing transmission and distribution…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently interpreted a land developer’s contract with an Indiana town in Carroll Creek Development Company Inc. v. Town of Huntertown, 9 N.E.3d 702 (Ind. Ct. App 2014). The contract provided that the developers could recoup nearly five-hundred thousand dollars of their water main construction costs through connection charges levied against land owners in a defined…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion explaining the difference between two common types of termination clauses in oils and gas leases. The first, known as a “drill or pay” clause, obliges the lessee to either commence production within a certain timeframe or pay advance royalties, but does not operate to automatically terminate the lease in the event…
In January, 2014 the Indiana Court of Appeals found that failure to supply an accurate map of underground facilities may bar negligence suits against contractors who properly file an intent to excavate with the Indiana Underground Plant Protection Service in compliance with the Indiana Damage to Underground Facilities Act (DUFA). City of Fort Wayne v. Northern Indiana Public Service Company,…
HEA 1423 was signed into law on March 27, 2014 and it makes two important changes. 1) The new law expands the temporary discount program for companies hiring in Indiana by: reducing the threshold for utility discount applications from a maximum demand of at least ten megawatts to five megawatts opening the discount to prospective employers, who may be considering…
An Indiana appellate court has recently upheld the judgment of a trial court, holding that a sewer lien could not be enforced by selling a property at a tax sale when that lien was the only lien that existed on the property. In In re: Carroll County 2012 Tax Sale, 993 N.E.2d 635 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013), a regional sewer…
The Indiana Supreme Court recently reversed the judgment of a trial court which had granted a city’s motion to strike the jury trial request of a utility companies and the city’s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a case where the utility company challenged the compensation amount awarded for condemnation of its property by a city’s board of…