Louis Houck v. Little River Drainage District

Citation239 U.S. 254,60 L.Ed. 266,36 S.Ct. 58
Decision Date29 November 1915
Docket NumberNo. 35,35
PartiesLOUIS HOUCK and Mary H. G. Houck, His Wife; Charles J. Juden and C. G. Cox, Plffs. in Err., v. LITTLE RIVER DRAINAGE DISTRICT, John H. Himmelberger, et al
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Benson C. Hardesty, Giboney Houck, and Thomas D. Hines for plaintiffs in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 255-258 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Robert Burett Oliver, Robert Burett Oliver, Jr., and Allen Laws Oliver for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiffs in error, owners of several thousand acres embraced within the Little River Drainage District, of Missouri, brought this suit to restrain the collection of a tax of 25 cents per acre levied generally upon the lands within the district for the purpose of paying its preliminary expenses. The district was organized in 1907 under the provisions of article 3, chapter 122, Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1899, as amended by the act of April 8, 1905. Its board of supervisors appointed engineers who made surveys and recommended a plan of drainage. Upon the adoption of this plan, in November, 1909, commissioners were appointed for the purpose of viewing the tracts within the district and assessing benefits and damages. Pending the proceedings of these commissioners, the tax in question was levied under the act of June 1, 1909, now § 5538 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1909, which provides as follows:

'Sec. 5538. Levy of 25 cents per acre may be made for preliminary work.—As soon as any drainage district shall have been organized under order of the circuit court, and a board of supervisors are elected and qualified, such board of supervisors shall have the power and authority to levy upon each acre of land in the district, not to exceed 25 cents per acre, as a level rate, to be used for purpose of paying expenses of organization, for topographical and other surveys, for plans of drainage, for expenses of assessing benefits and damages and other incidental expenses which may be necessary, before entering upon the main work of drainage. Any district which may have proceeded without such levy may, if in the opinion of its board of supervisors it be desirable to do so, make such level assessment for such purpose, and if such items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from other sources, the surplus shall be paid into the general fund of the district, and such levy may be made although the work proposed may have failed or have been found impractical.'

The amended petition averred in substance that as to the plaintiffs all the proceedings had been in invitum; that the lands in the district varied in value; that no benefits had accrued or would accrue to the plaintiffs' lands either from the expenditure of the moneys sought to be raised by the tax, or from the carrying out of the proposed plan; that a large portion of the lands in the district, and those of the plaintiffs in large part, were to be condemned for a right of way for ditches and catch basins; and that the tax had been levied against every acre within the district, as a level tax, without regard either to relative value or to benefits, or to the fact that portions of the lands would be damaged and other portions would be taken by condemnation, or that a large extent of territory, if added to the district, as had been proposed, would receive the benefit of the tax without being charged with any part. The levy of the tax, and the act authorizing it, were assailed as being contrary to the Constitution of the state of Missouri, and also to the provision of the 14th Amendment prohibiting deprivation of property without due process of law.

Upon demurrer to the petition, the parties stipulated that the sole question to be determined was whether § 5538 (supra) was constitutional. The trial court held it to be valid and dismissed the petition. After affirmance in the supreme court of Missouri, division one, the cause was transferred (in view of the Federal question) to the court in banc, where the judgment was finally affirmed, the opinion of division one being adopted. 248 Mo. 373, 154 S. W. 739.

In considering the contention thus presented under the 14th Amendment, it must be taken to be established that the district had been organized validly for a public purpose. It had been incorporated pursuant to the judgment of the circuit court, as in the act provided, and this judgment had been affirmed upon appeal. Little River Drainage Dist. v. St. Louis, M. & S. E. R. Co. 236 Mo. 94, 139 S. W. 330. In the opinion of the court in that proceeding, the tracts were described as forming 'a contiguous body of land from 1 to 11 miles in width, extending in a southerly direction for a distance of about 90 miles from Cape Girardeau on the north, to the boundary line between Missouri and Arkansas. Streams and water courses heading in the higher adjacent territory carry their waters to these low lands, where, because of insufficient channels, the waters overflow and render much of the land uncultivable and uninhabitable.' Id. p. 103. The district is, indeed, a conspicuous illustration of the class of enterprises which have been authorized in order to secure the recognized public advantages which will accrue from reclaiming and opening to cultivation large areas of swamp or overflowed lands. Egyptian Levee Co. v. Hardin, 27 Mo. 495, 72 Am. Rep. 276; Columbia Bottom Levee Co. v. Meier, 39 Mo. 53; Morrison v. Morey, 146 Mo. 543, 48 S. W. 629; State ex rel. Compton v. Chariton Drainage Dist. 192 Mo. 517, 90 S. W. 722; Mound City Land & Stock Co. v. Miller, 170 Mo. 240, 60 L.R.A. 190, 94 Am. St. Rep. 727, 70 S. W. 721; State ex rel. Applegate v. Taylor, 224 Mo. 393, 123 S. W. 892; Squaw Creek Drainage Dist. v. Turney, 235 Mo. 80, 138 S. W. 12; Little River Drainage Dist. v. St. Louis, M. & S. E. R. Co. 236 Mo. 94, 139 S. W. 330. It was constituted a political subdivision of the state for the purpose of performing prescribed functions of government. Mound City Land & Stock Co. v. Miller, 170 Mo. 240, 60 L.R.A. 190, 94 Am. St. Rep. 727, 70 S. W. 721; State ex rel. Applegate v. Taylor, 224 Mo. 393, 123 S. W. 892. These drainage districts, as the supreme court of the state has said, exercise the granted powers within their territorial jurisdiction 'as fully, and by the same authority, as the municipal corporations of the state exercise the powers vested by their charters.' 248 Mo. p. 383.

In view of the nature of this enterprise it is obvious that, so far as the Federal Constitution is concerned, the state might have defrayed the entire expense out of state funds raised by general taxation, or it could have apportioned the burden among the counties in which the lands were situated and the improvements were to be made. Mobile County v. Kimball, 102 U. S. 691, 703, 704, 26 L. ed. 238, 241, 242. It was equally within the power of the state to create tax districts to meet the authorized outlays. The legislature, unless restricted by the state Constitution, can create such districts directly, or, as in this case, it may provide for their institution through a proceeding in the courts in which the parties interested are cited to appear and present their objections, if any. The propriety of a delegation of this sort was a question for the state alone. And with respect to districts thus formed, whether by the legislature directly or in an appropriate proceeding under its authority, the legislature may itself fix the basis of taxation or assessment; that is, it may define the apportionment of the burden, and its action cannot be assailed under the 14th Amendment unless it is palpably arbitrary and a plain abuse. These principles have been established by repeated decisions. Hagar v. Reclamation Dist. 111 U. S. 701, 709, 28 L. ed. 569, 572, 4 Sup. Ct. Rep. 663; Spencer v. Merchant, 125 U. S. 345, 353, 356, 31 L. ed. 763, 766, 767, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 921; Fallbrook Irrig. Dist. v. Bradley, 164 U. S. 112, 167, 168, 41 L. ed. 369, 391, 392, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 56; Bauman v. Ross, 167 U. S. 548, 590, 42 L. ed. 270, 288, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 966; Parsons v. District of Columbia, 170 U. S. 45, 52, 42 L. ed. 943, 946, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 521; Williams v. Eggleston, 170 U. S. 304, 311, 42 L. ed. 1047, 1049, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 617; Norwood v. Baker, 172 U. S. 269, 278, 43 L. ed. 443, 447, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 187; French v. Barber Asphalt Paving Co. 181 U. S. 324, 343, 45 L. ed. 879, 889, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 625; Wight v. Davidson, 181 U. S. 371, 379, 45 L. ed. 900, 904, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 616; Wagner v. Leser, decided this day [239 U. S. 207, 60 L. ed. , 36 Sup. Ct. Rep. 66].

The legislature, in this instance, fixed the object and character of the tax, and prescribed the maximum rate. The authority to levy the tax for preliminary expenses was to follow upon the organization of the district. The plaintiffs in error urge that the determination at the time the district was organized was merely preliminary and tentative with respect to the lands to be included, and that assessments according to ascertained benefits for the purpose of meeting the cost of works and improvements are reserved for subsequent proceedings, upon notice, after surveys have been made and the plan of drainage has been definitely adopted. See Rev. Stat. (Mo.) §§ 5511 to 5519. It is true that the elaborate inquiry which is to follow the organization of the district may show the advisability of bringing in other lands (Squaw Creek Drainage Dist. v. Turney, 235 Mo. 80, 138 S. W. 12), and the statute undoubtedly does postpone the assessment of the cost of works and improvements until the plan of drainage has been decided upon and benefits have been determined accordingly. But none the less the organization of the district takes effect when it is duly constituted by the judgment of the court. The owners whose lands are embraced in the district as proposed, and who...

To continue reading

Request your trial
310 cases
  • Yazoo & M. V. R. Co. v. Board of Mississippi Levee Com'rs
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 6 Mayo 1940
    ... ... taxes levied by the Mississippi Levee District come under the ... class known as local ... v. Coleman, ... 277 U.S. 32, 37; Houck v. Little River Drainage ... Dist., 239 U.S ... ...
  • Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. City of Lakeland
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 1 Agosto 1927
    ... ... arbitrarily made a taxing district, and charged with the ... whole expenditure ... highways or drainage operations. Such funds may be provided ... by ... Kimball, 102 U.S. 691, 26 L.Ed. 238; Houck v. River ... Drainage Dist., 239 U.S. 254, 36 ... Co. v. Road ... Imp. Dist. No. 6 of Little River County, Ark., 256 U.S ... 658, 41 S.Ct ... ...
  • Dinneen v. Rider
    • United States
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • 11 Febrero 1927
    ...adopted is ill advised, much less unconstitutional. Thrift v. Laird, 125 Md. 55, 69, 63 A. 449; Houck v. Little River Drainage District, 239 U. S. 254, 262, 36 S. Ct. 58, 60 L. Ed. 266; Ludwig v. Baltimore County, 131 Md. 351, 101 A. 695; Valley Farms Co. v. Westchester, 261 U. S. 155, 43 S......
  • Bushnell et al. v. Drainage District et al.
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 4 Enero 1938
    ...This expense can be incurred by the board of supervisors and paid from a tax levy. Houck v. Little River Drainage District, 154 S.W. 739, 60 L. Ed. 266; Honey Creek Drainage District v. Farm Investment Company, 32 S.W. (2d) 753. (4) Authorities of corporation can be compelled to proceed to ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Auctioning the Upzone.
    • United States
    • Case Western Reserve Law Review Vol. 70 No. 3, March 2020
    • 22 Marzo 2020
    ...Ass'n--Bay Area v. City of Oakland, 289 F. Supp. 3d 1056, 1057 (N.D. Cal. 2018). (204.) See, e.g., Houck v. Little River Drainage Dist., 239 U.S. 254, 265 (205.) See Cal. Bldg. Indus. Ass'n v. City of San Jose, 136 S.Ct. 928, 928-29 (2016) (Thomas, J., concurring in cert, denial). (206.) Se......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT