Sodexo America, LLC v. City of Golden

Citations

• 2017 COA 118
• 442 P.3d 931

Syllabus

Sodexo America, LLC (Sodexo) provides food services and food to the Colorado School of Mines (Mines) pursuant to a contract with Mines. Mines, in turn, contracts with its students to provide them food (the food obtained, prepared, and served by Sodexo) through various meal plans. The City of Golden (City) taxes Sodexo for students' use of the meal plans. Sodexo collects and remits sales tax on campus food purchased with cash, check, or credit card. But the City also assesses Sodexo for sales tax on transactions whereby students swipe meal cards in exchange for meal plan meals, which taxation Sodexo challenged. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the City on Sodexo's challenges to the City's assessment and denial of refunds. On appeal, Sodexo contended that the City can't tax it for meals purchased by Mines' students under the students' contracts with Mines. The Golden Municipal Code states that the City may levy sales tax on the purchase price of food, but exempts from taxation wholesale sales. Under the relevant contract and pursuant to the plain language of the Code, no sales occur between Sodexo and Mines' students with meal plans instead, Sodexo sells meal plan meals to Mines at wholesale. Because the Code expressly exempts wholesale sales from taxation, the City's assessment is invalid. The judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded for entry of judgment in Sodexo's favor and for any other proceedings consistent with this opinion.