IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY
TWENTY-FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
STATE OF MISSOURI
COLLECTOR OF WINCHESTER, MISSOURI;
and CITY OF WINCHESTER, MISSOURI;
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On behalf of themselves and all
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others similarly situated,
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Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC.;
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CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, LLC;
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CHARTER FIBERLINK - MISSOURI, LLC; and )
CHARTER ADVANCED SERVICES (MO), LLC, )
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Defendants.
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Case No. 10SL-CC02719
Div. No. 10
May 6, 2016
NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION
TO: ALL MISSOURI CITIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS LOCATED IN
CHARTER FIBERLINK – MISSOURI, LLC’S AND CHARTER ADVANCED
SERVICES (MO), LLC’S VOIP SERVICE TERRITORIES THAT HAVE ADOPTED A
CODE OR ORDINANCE THAT IMPOSES A BUSINESS OR OCCUPATIONAL
LICENSE TAX ON THE RECEIPTS OF ANY PERSON ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS
OF SUPPLYING OR FURNISHING TELEPHONE SERVICE (INCLUDING
EXCHANGE TELEPHONE SERVICE) IN THE CITY OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION,
OR WHO IS OTHERWISE ENGAGED IN A TELEPHONE BUSINESS THEREIN.
PLEASE READ THIS CLASS ACTION NOTICE CAREFULLY.
IT MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS.
THE COURT AUTHORIZED THIS NOTICE.
IT IS NOT A SOLICITATION FROM A LAWYER.
YOU ARE NOT BEING SUED.
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Pursuant to Rule 52.08(c)(2) of the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure, which permits a
class action to be filed by representative parties on behalf of all others who may have been
similarly damaged, and which requires notice of the class action to be given to all persons
reasonably believed to be potential members of the Class, you are hereby notified as follows:
OVERVIEW OF THE CLASS ACTION
A class action is pending in this Court, brought against Charter Communications, Inc.,
Charter Communications, LLC, Charter Fiberlink – Missouri, LLC and Charter Advanced
Services (MO), LLC (collectively “Charter”) by the City of Winchester, Missouri, individually
and as representatives of all cities and political subdivisions located in Charter’s service territory
that have adopted a code or ordinance that imposes a business or occupational license tax on the
receipts of any person engaged in the business of supplying or furnishing telephone service
(including exchange telephone service) in the city or political subdivision. Records of Charter
indicate that you may be a member of the Class.
Winchester alleges that Charter does not pay license (sometimes referred to as “gross
receipts”) taxes on certain receipts from providing Voice over Internet Protocal (“VoIP”) service
(sometimes referred to as “Charter Phone”) as required by these codes and ordinances. Charter
denies these allegations and argues that the taxes do not apply to the disputed receipts, such as
receipts derived from carrier access, reciprocal compensation, federal universal service fund
(FUSF) surcharges, state universal service fund (SUSF) surcharges, license tax surcharges, end
user common line (EUCL) surcharges, intrastate long distance, interstate long distance, and other
items.
Winchester’s Amended Petition contains two counts. In Count I, Winchester seeks
declaratory and injunctive relief. Specifically, Winchester seeks a declaration that the license tax
codes and ordinances apply to receipts derived by Charter from carrier access, reciprocal
compensation, EUCL charges, license tax surcharges, etc. Count II seeks back-taxes, interest
and penalties in the event the codes and ordinances apply to such receipts.
Charter denies that the codes and ordinances require it to pay taxes on these receipts and,
as a result, that it owes taxes on any of the receipts at issue in this action. It raises several
affirmative defenses, among them that Plaintiffs have an adequate remedy at law and that
Plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative and other legal remedies.
Copies of the codes and ordinances in Class Counsel’s possession, and believed to be at
issue in the litigation, are posted on this website.
THIS NOTICE SHOULD NOT BE UNDERSTOOD AS AN EXPRESSION OF ANY
OPINION BY THE COURT CONCERNING THE MERITS OF THE ALLEGATIONS MADE
AGAINST CHARTER.
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ACTION OF THE COURT
On April 6, 2016, the Court ordered that notice of the action be communicated to all
potential Class members, informing them of its pendency and status, explaining the nature of the
action and the rights of Class members with regard to the action, and describing what Class
members must do in order to protect their interests. That is the purpose of this Notice.
The Court has by Order certified the following “Class”:
All Missouri cities and political subdivisions located in Charter Fiberlink- Missouri,
LLC’s and Charter Advanced Services (MO), LLC’s service territories that have adopted
a code or ordinance that imposes a business or occupational license tax on the receipts of
any person engaged in the business of supplying or furnishing telephone service
(including exchange telephone service) in the city or political subdivision, or who is
otherwise engaged in a telephone business therein.
Excluded from the class is any Missouri city or political subdivision imposing a license
tax exclusively on rental exchange revenues.
To facilitate resolution of the case, the Court also has created five subclasses for case
management purposes as follows:
Subclass 1: Class members that impose a license (or “gross receipts”) tax on businesses
supplying or furnishing telephone service, including telecommunications service;
Subclass 2: Class members that impose a license (or “gross receipts”) tax on businesses
supplying or furnishing exchange telephone service;
Subclass 3: Class members that do not separately define the term “gross receipts” in their
telephone license tax codes;
Subclass 4: Class members that generally define the term “gross receipts” in their
telephone license tax codes as excluding “discounts, credits, refunds, sales taxes [and
sometimes other taxes, such as license] and uncollectible accounts”; and
Subclass 5: Class members that generally define the term “gross receipts” in their
telephone license tax codes as excluding the following:
such receipts as represent charges for message rate toll, or long distance telephone
service, charges for exclusive interstate service of any kind, charges for Morse,
telegraph, television or radio program transmission facilities, or for other services
furnished exclusively and permanently in connection with services extending
beyond the boundaries of the city, charges for the billing and collecting for
telegrams, charge for the sale of and advertising in telephone directories, charges
for rental of plant facilities or other property not currently used by any such
company in furnishing its telephone services, and charges which combine both
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receipts which are herein taxed and which are herein excepted in all cases in
which the demonstrable cost to any such telephone company, in making a
separation between the revenues taxed and those excepted, shall exceed the
evident revenue to be derived therefrom by the city hereunder.
A copy of the Court’s August 11, 2015 Order Granting Rule 52.08(b)(3) Certification is posted
on this website and provides additional details.
The City of Winchester, Missouri has been designated by the Court as representative of the
Class. Attorneys John W. Hoffman, Douglas R. Sprong, John F. Mulligan, Jr., and Howard
Paperner have been appointed Class Counsel.
YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES
If you are a Class member, you will be included in the class action unless you request to
be excluded pursuant to the procedure described below.
If you remain in the Class (by taking no action to be excluded from it), your rights will be
determined in the pending lawsuit and you will be legally bound by any judgment therein,
whether favorable or unfavorable. You will be entitled to share in any recovery obtained in the
class action, whether by settlement or judgment, subject to deductions for costs, expenses, and
attorney fees approved by the Court. However, in order to obtain any recovery you may first be
required to supply such proof as the Court may direct. Your interests will be protected by the
attorneys representing the Class, but you may, if you wish, select your own attorney to enter an
appearance at your own expense.
If you are eligible and choose not to be included in the Class, you will not be bound by
any decisions or judgments in the class action, and you will not be entitled to share in the
proceeds of any settlement or judgment obtained in the class action. However, you may be able
to pursue a claim against Charter on your own and at your own expense.
If you DO NOT wish to be included in the Class, you must send an “Exclusion Request”
stating that you want to be excluded from the Class. The Exclusion Request should read:
[Name] hereby requests to be excluded from the Charter tax class action in accordance
with the terms of the notice of pendency of class action of May 6, 2016, and with the
understanding that by this request it will not be entitled to share in the benefits of the
judgment if it is favorable to the plaintiffs, and it will not be bound by a judgment which
is adverse to the defendant.
[Signed]
[Typed Name]
[Address and telephone]
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Be sure to include your name, address and telephone number, and sign the letter. You must mail
your Exclusion Request to “CHARTER LICENSE TAX LITIGATION, Korein Tillery, LLC,
505 N. 7th Street, Suite 3600, St. Louis, MO 63101.” Exclusion Requests must be received no
later than June 20, 2016. All eligible Class members who fail to return an Exclusion Request
in a timely manner will automatically be included in the Class.
Counsel for the plaintiffs and for the members of the Class (“Class Counsel”) are:
John W. Hoffman
Douglas R. Sprong
Korein Tillery, LLC
505 N. 7th Street, Suite 3600
St. Louis, MO 63101
Howard Paperner
9322 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63119
John F. Mulligan, Jr.
101 South Hanley, Ste. 1280
Clayton, MO 63105
All communications and questions concerning this notice should be sent to “CHARTER
LICENSE TAX LITIGATION, Korein Tillery, LLC, 505 N. 7th Street, Suite 3600, St. Louis,
MO 63101.” Do not contact the Court.
If your address changes or is different from the address stated on the envelope enclosing
this notice, please send notice of the change or a correction to “CHARTER LICENSE TAX
LITIGATION, Korein Tillery, LLC, 505 N. 7th Street, Suite 3600, St. Louis, MO 63101.”
YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS A CLASS MEMBER
If you are and remain a member of the Class, you may be called upon in due course to
provide information concerning your claim. Your failure to provide this information in the
manner required by the Court may result in your claim being disallowed. If you do not exclude
yourself from the Class, you will be sent appropriate notices with regard to filing your claim.
Class Counsel and the representatives of the Class will present the case at trial on behalf of
the Class. You do not need to attend the trial.
AVAILABILITY OF FILED PAPERS
This Notice provides only a summary of matters regarding the lawsuit. Copies of
Plaintiffs’ Amended Petition for Declaratory Judgment and Other Relief, Defendants’ Answers
to Plaintiffs’ Amended Petition for Declaratory Judgment and Other Relief, Order Granting
Class Certification, Class Notice, and tax codes and ordinances can be found at this website. The
pleadings and other papers filed in this action are available for inspection at the Office of the
Clerk of the Circuit Court of the County of St. Louis, 7900 Carondelet Avenue, Clayton,
Missouri 63105, during regular business hours.
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If you wish, you may seek the advice and guidance of outside attorneys at your own
expense. If you wish to communicate with or obtain information from attorneys for the Class,
you may do so by letter at the addresses listed below. You should direct any such inquiries
concerning the matters described in this Notice to Class Counsel:
John W. Hoffman
Douglas R. Sprong
Korein Tillery, LLC
505 N. 7th Street, Suite 3600
St. Louis, MO 63101
Howard Paperner
9322 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63119
John F. Mulligan, Jr.
101 South Hanley, Ste. 1280
Clayton, MO 63105
Please do not contact the Court, Counsel for Charter, or any Charter representative for
information.
Dated: May 6, 2016
By Order of the Circuit Court of the County of
St. Louis, State of Missouri
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