Barnes v. City of West Allis
| Decision Date | 05 February 1957 |
| Citation | 81 N.W.2d 75,275 Wis. 31 |
| Parties | Einar BARNES et al., Respondents, v. CITY OF WEST ALLIS, Appellant. In re Appeal from the Determination of the City of West Allis of the Mobile Home Parking Permit Fee, etc. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
George A. Schmus, City Atty., Charles G. Panosian, Asst. City Atty., West Allis, for appellant.
Tilg & Koch, Milwaukee, for respondents.
The trailer park owners, who were appellants in the circuit court, took the position that the monthly parking permit fee is a property tax and invalid because not proportioned to the value of the property. The city argued that the fee was a valid excise tax. The park owners also asserted that sec. 66.058(3) is so indefinite, ambiguous and uncertain as to be incapable of application and that in any event the amount of the monthly parking permit fee was determined by the common council in an unreasonable and arbitrary manner and is in excess of the cost of services supplied to the mobile homes. The circuit court decided that the statute is unconstitutional on the first ground and did not consider the other two propositions.
The circuit court held that a flat tax of $10 per month can not be levied upon trailers which differ in value. Under sec. 1, art. VIII, constitution of Wisconsin where a property tax is levied, there can be no classification which interferes with substantial uniformity of rate based upon value. But it is also true that as to excise taxation, the term 'uniformity of taxation' means simply taxation which acts alike on all persons similarly situated. Beals v. State, 139 Wis. 544, 557, 121 N.W. 347.
Is the parking permit fee a property tax or an excise tax?
We are of the opinion that it is an excise tax on the parking of occupied trailers and not a tax upon them as property. The parking fee involved does not apply to a vacant trailer which one might keep unoccupied in West Allis, but use elsewhere on pleasure trips and the like. It does not apply to a trailer which is held for sale in West Allis and may later be used anywhere by a purchaser. It does not apply to a trailer temporarily unoccupied for any reason.
It is said that the parking of an occupied trailer is so essential to the realization of the value of the trailer as to constitute the tax on parking a tax on the property. Yet we have a similar situation in exacting a uniform fee for licensing automobiles for use on the highways and the legislature has been permitted to draw other fine lines between property and transactions essential to the enjoyment of it.
An inheritance tax has been upheld as an excise tax upon the transfer of and the right to receive property and held not to be a tax upon the property itself. Nunnemacher v. State, 129 Wis. 190, 108 N.W. 627, 9 L.R.A.,N.S., 121; Beals v. State, supra.
Is it proper to tax one citizen for occupying a house trailer and omit to tax another for occupying an apartment or a house?
We are of the opinion that the classification involved may properly be made. House trailers can be readily moved from place to place. When a trailer is occupied, the burdens of supplying municipal and school services are placed upon the community in which it is located. It is difficult to levy and collect a property tax because of the mobility of the home. One of the advantages of living in a trailer home is that when a move to another place becomes desirable, whether because of a change in employment opportunities or other reason, the move can be made with a minimum of expense or risk of loss by having to give up accommodations in one place and obtain new ones in another. The house trailer is exempt from taxation as personal property. Sec. 70.112(7), Stats. Because of its mobility and the circumstances of its use it is proper to levy an excise tax upon use of a trailer without levying the same tax upon occupancy of a permanent home.
The circuit court also concluded that the statute violates sec. 1, art. I, of the constitution of Wisconsin because the right to live in a home is a natural right rather than a privilege. The court relied upon Crawford v. Borough of Wesleyville, 68 Pa.Dist. & Co.R. 215, a case which goes upon the theory that the state can not license the exercise of a natural right. In Wisconsin it is established that a tax which does not violate other constitutional principles can properly be laid upon inherent or natural rights. Beals v. State, supra, 139 Wis. at page 555, 121 N.W. 347.
Sec. 66.058(3) provides that the parking permit fee shall be 'equal to actual...
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