Texas strip clubs must pay 'pole tax' during appeal

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas still expects strip clubs to pay the so-called "pole tax" while the state appeals a court ruling that the fee is unconstitutional.

The state comptroller has sent a letter to strip clubs saying the fee is active and that the first reports and payments are due Monday. If they are not sent in, a 5 percent penalty will be levied on the club.

Strip clubs have vowed to keep fighting the fee.

Austin attorney Stewart Whitehead represents the Texas Entertainment Association, which includes more than half the topless clubs in Texas. He told The Dallas Morning News that the state's insisting on assessing fees that it knows are unconstitutional. He calls that "a grave injustice."

Last year, the Legislature overwhelmingly approved the $5 cover fee on strip club patrons. The $40 million to be collected annually was designated to sexual assault services and health insurance to the poor.

But on March 28, state district Judge Scott Jenkins ruled the fee was an illegal tax on "expression that, while politically unpopular, is nevertheless protected by the First Amendment."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.