VIDALIA — The lawsuit between the City of Vidalia and Comfort Suites Riverfront worked its way to the Louisiana Supreme Court, and Tuesday a verdict was rendered in favor of Vidalia.

The owner of Comfort Suites Virgil F. Jackson filed the suit after a 2007 act of the legislature declared the Vidalia riverfront to be its own political subdivision with the right to levy taxes.

Following the legislative act, the Riverfront Authority then voted to levy a tax of no more than 6 percent on any rooms or lodging facilities with the exception of hospitals on the riverfront.

However, the legislative act — drafted by District 21 Rep. Andy Anders — was crafted to limit the occupancy tax to be the only one the Riverfront Authority can levy.

The riverfront had to be declared a separate political subdivision to keep the riverfront taxes from being applied to the entire city.

The tax went into effect in October 2007, but the funds collected have been held in escrow.

“We were waiting for the final verdict on the lawsuit before we did anything,” Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

The stated purpose of the tax was for maintenance, equipment, operation, construction and other support costs for the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center.

“We are ready to move forward, and we have got some good projects working on the riverfront,” Copeland said.

Jackson argued the tax could not be put in place because actions taken by the Vidalia board of aldermen demonstrated that the riverfront was actually a political subdivision of the city.

The suit claimed that if the riverfront was a political subdivision of the city, the tax could not be put in place because it was not effected by a vote of the electorate.

The Supreme Court’s ruling was unanimous with one abstention.

Seventh Judicial District Judge Kathy Johnson ruled in favor of the city in October 2007, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeal reaffirmed Johnson’s ruling in May.