Bergen & Dundee R. Co. v. State Bd. of Assessors

• Decision Date: 05 August 1907
• Citation: 74 N.J.L. 742,67 A. 668
• Parties: BERGEN & DUNDEE R. CO. v. STATE BOARD OF ASSESSORS et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

67 A. 668

74 N.J.L. 742

BERGEN & DUNDEE R. CO.

v. STATE BOARD OF ASSESSORS et al.

Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey.

Aug. 5, 1907.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Error to Supreme Court.

Action by the Bergen & Dundee Railroad Company against the state board of assessors and J. Willard Morgan, comptroller. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiff brings error. Affirmed.

Collins & Corbin and George Holmes, for plaintiff in error. Robert H. McCarter, Atty. Gen., Bennet Van Syckel, and John R. Hardin, for defendants in error.

PITNEY, J. The state board of assessors having in the year 1905 valued and assessed the property of the Bergen & Dundee Railroad Company, consisting of land other than main stem and commonly called "second-class railroad property," situate in the taxing district of the city of Passaic, imposed thereon a tax at the local rate ($2.92 per $100), pursuant to the provisions of chapter 91 of the Laws of 1905, being a supplement to the act for the taxation of railroad and canal property, and known as the "Duffield Act" (P. L. 1905, p. 189). The company prosecuted a writ of certiorari to review this tax on the ground that the Duffield act is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed the tax on the authority of the opinion of Chief Justice Gummere in Central R. R. Co. v. State Board of Assessors, 65 Atl. 244. To review the judgment of the Supreme Court the present writ of error was sued out.

It is insisted that the Duffield act violates article 4, § 7, par. 12, of the Constitution of this state, which provides that "property shall be assessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules, according to its true value." It is also argued that it offends against article 14 of the amendments to the federal Constitution, which provides that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

The Duffield act is a supplement to the act of 1888 (P. L. 1888, p. 209; Gen. St. p. 3324), which took the place of the act of 1834 (P. L. 1884, p. 142; Supp. Revision 1886, p. 1002). The act of 1884 provided that all the property of any railroad or canal company not used for railroad or canal purposes should be assessed and taxed by the same assessors and in the same manner and at the same rate as the taxable property of other owners in the same taxing district, that all other property of any railroad or canal company should be assessed and taxed under this act, and that the tax imposed by this act should be in lieu of all other taxation upon the property subject to taxation under the provisions of this act. It provided that the state board of assessors should annually ascertain the true value of all property used for railroad or canal purposes of each railroad and canal company in this state, including its franchises, and should in such ascertainment separately ascertain (1) the length and value of the main stem of each railroad and of the waterway of each canal, and the length thereof in each taxing district ("main stem" being declared to include the roadbed, not exceeding 100 feet in width, with rails and sleepers and passenger depot buildings, and "waterway" to include the towing path and berme bank); (2) the value of other real estate used for railroad or canal purposes in each taxing district; (3) the value of all tangible personal property of each railroad and of each canal company; (4) the value of the franchise. Upon the entire assessed valuation of each company as thus ascertained the company was required to pay to the state for state purposes a tax of one-half of 1 per centum annually, and also to pay a tax at the local rate (as fixed and assessed for county and municipal purposes upon other property in each taxing district) upon the valuation of its property in the several taxing districts used for railroad purposes other than main stem and waterway; but the last-mentioned rate was in no case to exceed 1 per centum of the valuation of such property. The sum of these was to constitute the tax to be paid by each company. The general tax of one-half of 1 per centum was to be applied to the uses of the state, and the amount received for tax upon the property separately assessed in the different taxing districts ("second-class" railroad and canal property) was appropriated to various taxing districts, giving to each district the amount derived from the property of each company therein. The scheme of taxation thus established was upheld as constitutional by this court in State Board of Assessors v. Central R. R. Co., 48 N. J. Law, 146, 4 Atl. 578.

The act of 1888 preserved the general scheme of the act of 1884, eliminating, however, certain features which had been held unconstitutional in Central R. R. Co. v. State Board, 49 N. J. Law, 1, 7 Atl. 306, and Williams v. Bettle, 51 N. J. Law, 512, 18 Atl. 750. The allotment of the separate tax upon second-class property to the several taxing districts was provided for by section 11 of this act (P. L. 1888, p. 276), which was amended by a later act of the same year (P. L. 1888, p. 376; Gen. St. p. 3333, pl. 242) in a respect not now material. By P. L. 1897, p. 147, and P. L. 1898, p. 59, the law was amended so as to give to the several taxing districts the total amount of tax derived from second-class property.

The Duffield act (P. L. 1905, p. 189) further changes the law with respect to the taxation of second-class property, and with respect to this alone. Its first section provides for returns to be made annually to the state board of assessors by the several companies, showing the details of the second-class property in each taxing district. The second, third, and fourth sections of the act are as follows:

"Sec. 2. On or before the first day in August in each year the state board of assessors shall ascertain and certify the value of the property described in the foregoing section [this refers to the so-called second-class railroad and canal property] to the local taxing authorities in the several taxing districts in which the same is respectively situated; provided, that the right of hearing as now prescribed by law shall be in nowise restricted or abridged.

"Sec. 3. The value of such property so certified shall be included in the amount of the ratables to be taxed in the several taxing districts, and the necessary tax rate for such district shall be ascertained by the local taxing authorities and certified to the state board of assessors on or before the first day of October in each year, whereupon the state board of assessors shall include in the taxes to be assessed by it, under the provisions of the act to which this is a supplement, the property described in the first section hereof at the rate in each taxing district that is so as aforesaid certified to it by the local taxing authorities, and said property shall not be subject to any other tax: provided, that if the local taxing authorities of any taxing district shall fail to certify to said state board of assessors within the time prescribed by this act the local rate of tax as fixed, it shall be the duty of said board to allot to the taxing district so in default an apportionment of tax at a rate not exceeding one per centum upon the class of property described in the first section hereof.

"Sec. 4. The state board of assessors shall, as at present provided by law, certify and report to the comptroller of the state the assessed valuation and tax levied upon the property of each railroad and canal company in the state, and of the separate valuation of the property of such companies in each taxing district, separately valued and assessed under provisions of subdivision two (2) of section three (3) of the act to which this act is a further supplement, and the entireamount of tax derived from the assessment of this latter class of property shall be allotted to and paid over to the local taxing districts through which said railroads or canals run, giving to each such district the total amount of tax that may be so derived from such property of each railroad or canal company therein."

As we read this act, its purpose is plain. The second class railroad and canal property in each taxing district is first to be valued by the state board of assessors. In order to aid them in making this valuation returns are to be made by each company. The state board is then to certify to the local taxing authorities in each of the several taxing districts the valuation of the second-class property therein situate, to the end that such valuation may be added to the other taxable ratables, and that the local authorities may thus ascertain the necessary tax rate for such district. This local rate is then to be certified by the local authorities to the state board, and a tax at that rate is to be imposed by the state board upon the second-class property. This tax (together with the tax on main stem, franchise, and equipment provided for by the act of 1888) is then to be collected by the comptroller, and the tax on second-class property is to be allotted to and paid over to the local taxing districts. The main purpose of the act is to subject second-class railroad and canal property to taxation for local purposes at local rates, without limiting this tax to 1 per centum as formerly, and to do away with the former tax of one-half of 1 per centum upon property, originally imposed for statesecond-class purposes and afterwards allotted to the several taxing districts by the act of 1897. Another noticeable point is that, while under the former act the local rate was determined by the other property in the taxing district (Williams v. Settle, 51 N. J. Law, 512-515, 18 Atl. 750), under this...