Vicksburg, S. & P. Ry. Co. v. Nattin
| Decision Date | 05 August 1931 |
| Docket Number | No. 442.,442. |
| Citation | 51 F.2d 1061 |
| Parties | VICKSBURG, S. & P. RY. CO. v. NATTIN, Tax Collector, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
Randolph, Rendall & Freyer, of Shreveport, La., for complainant.
L. B. Duke, of Benton, La., and R. F. Kennon, of Minden, La., for respondents.
The petition in this case alleges that the defendant tax collector is about to enforce collection of an annual tax of eight mills, amounting to $406.80 for the year 1930, claimed by the subdrainage district No. 1 of Bossier parish. It alleges that the said tax is illegal, for the reason that complainant was a nonresident of the district, and, although the assessed value of its property is greater than that of any other taxpayer, amounting to $50,850, it was not permitted to vote thereon or to be heard in any manner as to the imposition of said tax; that its property consists of its roadbed, right of way, and track, amounting to some twenty acres, which will in no wise be benefited by the drainage scheme, and assessed at some twenty-five times the value per acre placed upon other property in the district, and the action of the respondents results in gross discrimination, denial of due process, and the taking of its property in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution; that the district was created, bonds amounting to $47,000, maturing over a term of twenty-five years, were issued, and its property will therefore be taxed each year for the payment thereof to an amount in the aggregate over said period of more than $5,000. Petitioner prays for a restraining order, that upon hearing it be granted a preliminary injunction, and finally that the defendants be permanently enjoined from collecting said tax.
A restraining order was granted and subsequently a temporary injunction.
The matter has now been submitted upon a motion to dismiss, the grounds of which are as follows: (1) That the petition does not set forth facts to give jurisdiction in a court of the United States; (2) that the amount involved is insufficient to give this court jurisdiction; (3) that the allegations are too indefinite, and contain only conclusions of law; (4) that there is no allegation that plaintiff is not bound by the sixty-day prescription provided by the state Constitution; (5) nor does it allege that plaintiff is not bound by the thirty-day limitation of Act No. 9 of the state Legislature of 1924; (6) that on its face the petition shows that plaintiff has been guilty of laches; and (7) that no irreparable injury has been shown.
I deem it necessary to consider only the question of the jurisdictional amount involved. It seems to be settled that in cases of this kind a complainant cannot add the taxes of subsequent years to those which are due and sought to be collected, in order to make up an amount sufficient to give a federal...
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