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No. 93-8408, City of Boerne, et al v. Boerne Hills Leasing Corp. and Chrysler Credit Corporation, 15 F.3d 57 (Sth Cir. 1994) Upon the sale in bankruptcy of the personal property assets of Boerne Hills Leasing Corp., the Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Texas granted all proceeds of the sale of the inventory to Chrysler Credit Corporation, the commercial lender in the case. The taxing juris- dictions objected and requested distribution to their own lien claims which objections were overruled and requests denied on the theory that the liens were fundamentally inferior to the prior liens of the floor plan financier. The taxing jurisdictions appealed to the Federal District Court, and while restating the basis for the ruling, that Court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court's ruling. On appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the rulings of the lower Courts were reversed. The Fifth Circuit concluded that the tax lien of the taxing jurisdictions under Texas law is superior to that of commercial lenders even when those commercial liens predate the taxes, and that while the tax liens may have been avoidable under bankruptcy law, no action had been taken by the Trustee to do so. Furthermore, the Fifth Circuit found that while Chrysler Credit could have sought authorization from the Court to initiate a lien avoidance action on behalf of the Trustee, no such authorization had been sought and thus the jurisdictions were entitled to their portion of the proceeds of the sale of the debtors' inventory. No. 4:91CV117, Robert V. Thurmond, Jr. v. Leander Independent School District, City of Sachse, Wylie Independent School District, and Travis County, (In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, 1992) Robert V. Thurmond, Jr., debtor in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, challenged the classification of the 1990 property taxes in his bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was filed in February of 1990 and if the 1990 taxes were pre-petition claims, they would be subject to a six year payout, while if they were post-petition claims (administrative expenses), they would have to be paid in full with full penalty and interest at the time the Chapter 11 plan was confirmed. In the Bankruptcy Court, the Debtor argued that since personal liability had arisen on January 1 of the tax year, the debt pre-dated the bankruptcy. The tax jurisdictions argued that under existing case law in Texas, it was not the date of personal liability but the date of assessment which determines whether a particular year's ad valorem tax pre-dates or post-dates the filing of the bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Court agreed with the taxing jurisdictions and ruled in their favor. Mr. Thurman appealed, and on appeal the Federal District Court followed the same reasoning as had the Bankruptcy Court, affirming that decision in favor of the taxing jurisdictions. No. 93-8067, Midland Central Appraisal District v. Midland Industrial Service Corp., 35 F.3d 164 (Sth Cir. 1994): A debtor had filed bankruptcy on January 14, 1988. The bankruptcy court ruled that the 1988 taxes were pre-petition claims of the estate. The taxing jurisdiction contended that the 1988 taxes were administrative expenses to the bankruptcy. The Fifth Circuit concurred with the bankruptcy court, affirming the case. Application for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied. McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen 37