Bd. of Sch. Dirs. of Town of Pelican v. Bd. of Sch. Dirs. of Town of Rock Falls

• Decision Date: 22 March 1892
• Parties: BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS OF TOWN OF PELICAN v. BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS OF TOWN OF ROCK FALLS.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

81 Wis. 428

51 N.W. 871

BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS OF TOWN OF PELICAN

v.BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS OF TOWN OF ROCK FALLS.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

March 22, 1892.

Appeal from circuit court, Lincoln county; CHARLES M. WEBB, Judge.

Action by the board of school directors of the town of Pelican against the board of school directors of the town of Rock Falls. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. Affirmed.

The other facts fully appear in the following statement by CASSODAY, J.:

This action was commenced December 8, 1888, to recover $1,187.08, with interest from January 20, 1888, as the alleged surplus of credits and assets over liabilities existing January 1, 1887, at which time the plaintiff was created out of a portion of the original territory constituting the defendant town. The complaint is in the appropriate form. The defendant's answer, among other things, alleges a counter-claim to the amount of $1,894.15, with interest. The plaintiff replied to the counter-claim, May 8, 1889. The cause was referred to Hon. C. V. Bardeen to hear, try, and determine. A trial was had before the referee, who made and filed his report therein on or about September 23, 1889, in and by which he found, among other things, as matters of fact, in effect, as follows: That the plaintiff and defendant, respectively, were incorporated and organized; that for a long time prior to 1885 the town of Pelican was one of the duly-organized towns of Lincoln county; that during said year it adopted the town system of school government, and became one school-district, and that the plaintiff is its board of directors; that the town of Rock Falls now is, and ever since January 1, 1877, has been, one of the duly-organized towns of Lincoln county; that during the year 1878 it adopted the township system of school government, and became one school-district, and has so continued ever since, and that the defendant is its board of directors; that by virtue of chapter 411, Laws 1885, which went into effect January 1, 1887, the town of Pelican became one of the duly-organized towns of Oneida county; that January 1, 1887, by virtue of that act, townships numbered 36, 37, and 38 N., of range 6 E., were detached from the town of Rock Falls, in Lincoln county, and attached to the town of Pelican, in Oneida county, and that, according to the last assessment of the town of Rock Falls prior to such division, the value of the territory so detached from the town of Rock Falls, and attached to the town of Pelican, was to the value of the whole territory of said town as 43 1-6 is to 100, and that the plaintiff in this action is entitled to recover from the defendant judgment for 43 1-6 per cent. of the net assets of the defendant January 1, 1887; that January 1, 1887, the defendant was the owner of school-houses, school-sites, furniture, and fixtures to the amount and value of $1,000, which said property was on that day an asset in the hands of the defendant; that in the spring of 1886 a school-tax levy was duly made by the town of Rock Falls to the amount of $1,500, and that in the fall of 1886 said sum was inserted by the townclerk of said town in the tax-roll for said year, and that said sum was in fact levied during said year, and that the same was, by the treasurer of said town, duly collected, and the whole thereof, and that the same was an asset in the hands of the defendant January 1, 1887, and was in fact collected on that date by the treasurer of the defendant, or shortly after, and long prior to the commencement of this action, and that no part of the same was disbursed or expended prior to January 1, 1887; that the county board of Lincoln county apportioned a county school tax on the said town of Rock Falls, during 1886, of $100, for the use and benefit of the defendant, and that the same was duly inserted in the tax-roll for said year, and collected and paid to the defendant's treasurer in December, 1887, and that the same was an asset belonging to the defendant January 1, 1887; that January 6, 1887, there was a balance in cash in the defendant's treasury, belonging to the school fund of the defendant, amounting to at least $158.72 over and above the $1,372.45 which had previously been paid out and disbursed from the $1,531.41 which had been paid to the defendant by the treasurer of Lincoln county in June and November, 1886, and that said sum of $158.72 was, January 1, 1887, an asset in the hands of the defendant; that said several assets, consisting of school-houses, sites, furniture, and fixtures, town school-tax levy of 1886, county school tax for the town, and cash in the treasury, amounted in the aggregate to $2,758.71, and that the plaintiff was and is entitled to receive and recover of the defendant, as its share thereof, 43 1-6 per cent. of that amount; that January 1, 1887, there was no outstanding indebtedness against the defendant, except a judgment in favor of Priest, which was fully provided for by a special tax levied by the town for 1886, and which was duly collected to an amount sufficient to pay the same, and that said judgment was duly paid and satisfied from the money collected on said special tax; that the defendant has failed to establish or prove any of the allegations of the counter-claim; that the allegations of the plaintiff's complaint are all true. And as conclusions of law the referee found that the plaintiff was entitled to recover judgment against the defendant for 43 1-6 per cent. of said $2,758.71,--that is to say, $1,190.64,--together with interest thereon from August 20, 1888, at 7 per cent., and for its costs and disbursements of this action, and that the defendant take nothing by its counter-claim. Upon the motions of the respective parties to confirm the report and to set aside and to modify the same, the court, January 15, 1890, ordered that the report of said referee be, and the same was thereby, in all things confirmed, and it was further ordered that judgment be entered thereon in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant for the amount named, with interest, costs, and disbursements. From the judgment entered thereon accordingly the defendant brings this appeal.

PINNEY, J., dissenting.

*873Milo Woodbury, for appellant.

A. W. Shelton and Alban & Barnes, for respondent.

CASSODAY, J., ( after stating the facts.)

By virtue of chapter 411, Laws 1885, three government townships were detached from the town of Rock Falls, in Lincoln county, and attached to the town of Pelican, in Oneida county. Such division became complete January 1, 1887, as mentioned in the foregoing statement. Long prior to such division said towns had, respectively, adopted the township system of school government; and thereby each of said towns became and was on that day one...