By Ryan Randazzo and Russ Wiles | Arizona Republic
Maricopa County’s rental-car tax to support sports facilities is legal, the Arizona Supreme Court said in an opinion Monday.
The case was led by a rental-car agency and has wound its way through the state court system. Rental agencies argued the tax violated state and federal commerce laws because it discriminated against tourists, who rent more cars than state residents.
The courts said it didn’t.
“The car rental surcharge was not enacted with a discriminatory intent, as that term is used in Commerce Clause jurisprudence,” the justices said in Monday’s majority opinion.
“In sum, the voters did not enact the car rental surcharge with a discriminatory intent because they did not intend to treat in-state and out-of-state economic interests differently.”
