A Maricopa County judge ruled Tuesday that a tax on rental cars used to help pay off the Arizona Cardinals' stadium is illegal.

Attorney Stephanie McCoy Loquvam represented the car rental companies. She says the total tax revenue was $150 million and they are seeking damages based on that number.

Whatever damages the courts decide to award will go directly to the car rental companies, bypassing customers who may have paid those taxes. McCoy Loquvam said this is because of the inconsistency in the way car rental companies charged this tax.

McCoy Loquvam says many companies passed this tax to customers as a line item on the receipt, some added it as a general tax addition, and others added it into their overhead.

“Just as the customer pays for all elements of service regardless of what we are talking about, does the customer pay for the ingredients on a product? Not directly but as part of the combined total they do. The car rental companies could absolutely pass the tax back to their customers if they chose to,” said McCoy Loquvam.  

McCoy Loquvam said she felt this was an important issue to pursue.

“We represent obviously the car rental agencies who were concerned about how their businesses were being asked to carry this financial burden and the fact that the language of the Arizona constitution is clear, it wasn’t something we could turn a blind eye too,” said McCoy Loquvam

The state is expected to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, attorneys are working on three other lawsuits covering a tax to fund spring training facilities and a bed tax at Arizona hotels.