Badgett v. Broome

• Decision Date: 14 November 1966
• Citation: 219 Tenn. 264,23 McCanless 264,409 S.W.2d 354
• Parties: , 219 Tenn. 264 William E. BADGETT, Appellant, v. Robert L. BROOME et al., Appellees.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 354

409 S.W.2d 354

23 McCanless 264, 219 Tenn. 264

William E. BADGETT, Appellant, v. Robert L. BROOME et al., Appellees.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Nov. 14, 1966.

William E. Badgett, Knoxville, for appellant.

Earl S. Ailor, Knoxville, for appellees.

OPINION

CHATTIN, Justice.

This is an appeal from a decree of the Chancellor dismissing appellant's bill.

Appellant, complainant below, William E. Badgett, brought this suit in his capacity as a citizen, resident and taxpayer of Knox County against Robert L. Broome, Trustee of Knox County, C. Howard Bozeman, Judge of the County Court of Knox County, and Knox County, Tennessee.

The bill alleged that on August 9, 1965, the Quarterly County Court of Knox County passed a resolution providing for a referendum on whether a one cent sales tax should be adopted by the County and requested the Commissioners of Election for Knox County to call such an election to be held on September 23, 1965.

On the same date, the Quarterly County Court passed a resolution which provided that the tax rate for the year 1965 be fixed at $4.54 per $100.00 of evaluation in the event the sales tax was rejected by the voters in the referendum; and that in the event a one cent sales tax was authorized by the voters in the referendum such tax rate would be reduced to $3.54 per $100.00 of evaluation.

The bill further alleged that Robert L. Broome, Trustee, 'acting in concert, collusion and conspiracy with defendant, Bozeman, in the promotion of the tax and advocacy of the adoption of the one-cent sales tax in the referendum to be held September 23, 1965, has illegally and unlawfully used, and is about to use the funds of Knox County taxpayers, including this complainant, in a scheme to promote the sales tax by intimidating and bull-dozing the voters with a threatening tax notice that if the voters did not approve the sales tax their real estate taxes would be raised $1.00 for every hundred dollars of appraised evaluation. That the scheme used by defendant Broome to promote the sales tax is the sending out of a tax notice showing what the taxes will be at the $4.54 rate per hundred, and showing what the taxes will be if the sales tax is defeated. That the notices sent out by defendant Broome purport to be an official tax notice from his office as Trustee, when in truth and in fact there is no such thing in law as an official tax notice, and there is no law in Tennessee which permits said defendant Broome to expend funds of Knox County to send out any tax notices; that defendant Broome has already mailed some of these tax notices and is about to mail thousands more unless he is enjoined by process of this Court from so doing; that the postage on the mailing of these tax notices will amount to an illegal and unlawful expenditure of more than $4,000.00 of the taxpayers' money, and that the printing bill and labor bill on preparation and sending out the notices will cause an illegal and unlawful expenditure of the funds of Knox County of more than $10,000.00.'

The prayer of the bill is the Court declare the resolution of the County Court fixing an alternative tax rate be declared invalid and that there is no official tax rate set for the year 1965; that the Trustee's action in mailing the tax notices is illegal and he be enjoined from further mailing such notices; and that the County Judge be enjoined from taking any action to enforce the resolution of the County Court in fixing the tax rate in the manner it did.

The defendants answered the bill and denied they had conspired to promote the passage of the sales tax by mailing tax notices to the taxpayers of Knox County.

The Trustee denied he had acted illegally in mailing the tax notices. He averred he had mailed tax notices to the taxpayers of Knox County during the years he had been the Trustee of the County.

Their answer denied the resolution in fixing the tax rate of Knox County for the year 1965 was illegal and invalid.

The Chancellor heard the matter on the bill and answer and certain exhibits filed by complainant and defendants.

The Chancellor filed a memorandum opinion in which he found the...