178 A.3d 313
Vt.2017Background
- In the late 1980s Cabot received a $2 million UDAG from HUD; loan repayments were kept by the Town in a segregated Community Investment Fund (CIFC) subject to broad Title I purposes.
- CIFC grants are awarded by a selectboard-appointed committee and approved by voters on Town Meeting Day; eligible grantees include community groups, nonprofits, and town-created entities.
- United Church of Cabot (UCC) applied for a $10,000 CIFC grant to help paint three exterior sides of the church and to examine/repair sills; voters approved the grant via a warned question referencing exterior, stairwell, steeple, and interior repairs.
- Plaintiffs challenged the award under Vermont’s Compelled Support Clause (Ch. I, Art. 3), alleging public funds were improperly used to support a place of worship; they sought a preliminary injunction blocking payment.
- Trial court held plaintiffs had standing as municipal taxpayers and enjoined payment; Town appealed interlocutory on standing and preliminary injunction grounds.
- Supreme Court affirmed municipal taxpayer standing but vacated the preliminary injunction and remanded, finding plaintiffs had not shown sufficient likelihood of success on the merits or irreparable harm.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing (municipal taxpayer) | Plaintiffs argued CIFC funds are municipal assets and they may sue to enjoin misuse. | Town argued funds originated from federal UDAG, were segregated, and thus municipal taxpayer standing is inapplicable. | Court: Plaintiffs have municipal taxpayer standing because Town exercises control, HUD oversight lapsed, Title I uses are broad, and CIFC can supplant municipal expenditures. |
| Standing (Flast-style/state-taxpayer) | Plaintiffs alternatively claimed a Flast analog permits taxpayer standing for Establishment/Compelled Support claims. | Town contended Flast nexus is absent here. | Court: Did not decide; unnecessary because municipal taxpayer standing was sufficient. |
| Preliminary injunction — likelihood of success on merits | Plaintiffs argued the grant could fund repairs supporting worship and thus violate Compelled Support Clause. | Town argued program is neutral, broad, and funds limited secular repairs (painting, sill assessment); Free Exercise concerns limit categorical exclusion of religious recipients. | Court: Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success was low on current record; program appears neutral and the specific grant targets secular exterior work, so injunction unwarranted. |
| Preliminary injunction — irreparable harm | Plaintiffs asserted constitutional injury from use of public funds for a church cannot be remedied later. | Town argued money damages/repayment would remedy the alleged injury; no irreparable harm shown. | Court: Money repayment would adequately remedy the claimed injury here; constitutional violation that can be undone by repayment did not establish irreparable harm. |
Key Cases Cited
- Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83 (recognition of a narrow taxpayer standing exception for Establishment Clause challenges)
- Chittenden Town School Dist. v. Dep’t of Educ., 169 Vt. 310 (Vt. 1999) (Compelled Support Clause bars public funding that actually supports worship; focus is on funding "worship" not mere aid to religious entities)
- Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 137 S. Ct. 2012 (U.S. 2017) (denying religious organizations a neutral public benefit solely because of their religious character triggers strict scrutiny)
- Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712 (U.S. 2004) (permissible to deny funding for devotional theological training; distinguishes funding of religious training from neutral, secular benefits)
- Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7 (U.S. 2008) (standard for preliminary injunctions; extraordinary remedy requiring balance of harms)
- Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447 (U.S. 1923) (distinguishes municipal taxpayer standing from federal taxpayer standing)
- Cent. Vt. Pub. Serv. Corp. v. Town of Springfield, 135 Vt. 436 (Vt. 1977) (municipal taxpayer suits appropriate to challenge improper waste of municipal assets)
- American Atheists, Inc. v. City of Detroit Downtown Dev. Auth., 567 F.3d 278 (6th Cir. 2009) (neutral, broad façade-improvement program that incidentally aided churches did not violate Establishment Clause)