First Nat Bank of Greeley v. Board of Com Rs of Weld County, Colo 18 21, 1924

• Decision Date: 07 April 1924
• Docket Number: No. 180,180
• Citation: 264 U.S. 450,44 S.Ct. 385,68 L.Ed. 784
• Parties: FIRST NAT. BANK OF GREELEY v. BOARD OF COM'RS OF WELD COUNTY, COLO. Argued Jan. 18-21, 1924
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

264 U.S. 450

44 S.Ct. 385

68 L.Ed. 784

FIRST NAT. BANK OF GREELEY

v BOARD OF COM'RS OF WELD COUNTY, COLO.

No. 180.

Argued Jan. 18-21, 1924.

Decided April 7, 1924.

Mr. Harry N. Haynes, of Greeley, Colo., for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Wm. R. Kelly, of Greeley, Colo., and Charles Roach, of Denver, Colo., for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice SUTHERLAND delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an action to recover the amount of certain taxes levied for the fiscal years 1913 and 1914 and paid under protest. The court below sustained a demurrer to the amended complaint, and, plaintiff electing to stand thereon, entered judgment of dismissal.

Reversal of the judgment is sought here on the ground that the taxes were assessed and collected in contravention of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and of section 5219, U. S. R. S. (Comp. St. § 9784).

Under the Colorado statute (R. S. Colo. 1908, c. 122) a bank is required to make a list of its shares, stating their market value, and of its shareholders for the information of the county assessor, who is thereupon directed to assess such shares for taxation in all respects the same as similar property belonging to other corporations and individuals. Sections 5754, 5756. If any taxpayer is of the opinion that his property has been assessed too high, or otherwise illegally assessed, he may appear before the assessor and have the same corrected. Section 5639. The county commissioners of each county are constituted a board of equalization, with power to adjust and equalize the assessment among the several taxpayers, with reference to which any dissatisfied taxpayer may be heard. Section 5761.

The state tax commission, created in 1911, is authorized to supervise the administration of and enforce the tax laws, and exercise supervision over county assessors and boards of equalization, to the end that all assessments be made relatively just and uniform and at their true and full cash value. Comp. Laws Colo. 1921, c. 155, § 7334, par. 1. The commission may raise or lower the assessed value of any property, first giving notice to the owner thereof and fixing a time and place for hearing. Id. par. 7. Authority is conferred upon the commission to receive complaints and examine into all cases, where it is alleged that property has been fraudulently, or improperly or unfairly assessed. Section 7336. It shall, on or before the 1st day of October of each year, increase or decrease the valuation of the property in any county by such rate per cent. or such amount as will place the same on the assessment roll at its full and true cash value (section 7352), and must thereupon transmit to the state board of equalization a statement of the amount to be added or deducted (section 7353). It then becomes the duty of the state board of equalization to examine the abstracts of assessment submitted by the commission, and certify to the county assessor of each county a record of its action thereon. Section 7354. The commission is required to be in session every day except Sundays, and may hold sessions anywhere in the state. Section 7330.

The essential averments of the complaint may be shortly stated: Plaintiff made and delivered to the county assessor of Weld county the statement required by law. The assessor thereupon fixed the value of its shares, as well as that of the shares of other banks within the county, at their full cash and market value, but fixed the assessed value of the property of the remaining taxpayers in the county at 61 per cent. for 1913, and 80 per cent. for 1914, of such cash and market value. The county board of equalization accepted this assessment without change. The assessor thereupon transmitted to the tax commission the abstracts required by law. The tax commission determined that the property of the county as a whole had been underassessed, and recommended a horizontal increase of 63 per cent. in 1913 and 25 per cent. in 1914, as necessary to bring it to the full cash value. This determination was approved by the state board of equalization and the county assessor was directed to make the increase, with the result, as alleged, that plaintiff's assets, and those of all other banks in the county, were in fact assessed at an amount 63 per cent. in excess of their value for the year 1913 and 25 per cent. in excess thereof for the year 1914. In other counties of the state, either no increase of valuation was made, or the increase was comparatively small. The result was that the banks of Weld county were assessed and compelled to pay upon a valuation grossly in excess of that put upon other property in the same county, and likewise in excess of that put upon other banks in other counties of the state. It does not appear from the complaint that plaintiff applied to any of the taxing authorities to reduce the assessment of its property or correct the alleged inequalities, prior to the final levy of the tax, but some time after such levy had been completed, it made application for abatement and rebate, which application was approved by the county board, but disallowed by the state tax commission.

We are met at the threshold of our consideration of the case with the contention that the plaintiff did not exhaust its remedies before the administrative boards, and consequently cannot be heard by a judicial tribunal to assert the invalidity of the tax. We are of opinion that this contention must be upheld.

The Supreme Court of Colorado, in a suit brought by this plaintiff against the county assessor, involving the same tax for 1913, and presenting the same questions here involved, sustained the refusal of a lower court to enjoin the collection of the tax, and held: (a) That the flat increase made by the tax commission was in strict conformity with the state statutes; (b) that this action, being approved by the state board of equalization, constituted a final assessment; (c) that under the statute the plaintiff was bound to know the authority of these taxing agencies in the premises, and that they were required to meet at certain places, on certain days, and complete...