Board of Com'rs of Lake County v. Standley

• Decision Date: 18 January 1897
• Citation: 49 P. 23,24 Colo. 1
• Parties: BOARD OF COM'RS OF LAKE COUNTY v. STANDLEY.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

49 P. 23

24 Colo. 1

BOARD OF COM'RS OF LAKE COUNTY v. STANDLEY.

Supreme Court of Colorado

January 18, 1897

Appeal from district court, Lake county.

Action by Joseph Standley against the board of commissioners of Lake county. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

This is an action brought by the appellee against the appellant, upon certain coupons aggregating the sum of $6,400, and being for interest on certain bonds issued by Lake county on the 2d day of January, 1882. The complaint in substance avers: That on the 1st day of January, 1882, one Thomas Corbett was the owner and holder of certain warrants of the county of Lake which were in amount, number, and date as follows: No. 484 for the sum of $589.12, dated July 17, 1879; No. 578, for the sum of $2,500, dated September 1, 1879;No. 590, for the sum of $800, dated October 2, 1879; No. 599, for the sum of $1,100, dated October 9, 1879; No. 601, for the sum of $1,000, dated October 9, 1879; No. 603, for the sum of $1,000, dated October 9, 1879; No. 605, for the sum of $1,000, dated October 9, 1879; No. 994, for the sum of $347.50, dated October 9, 1879. That said warrants were duly issued for and on account of indebtedness incurred and contracted a long time before the issuance thereof, to wit on April 26 and on May 3, 1879, and on dates subsequent thereto, and before the valuation of the property of Lake county had reached the amount of $1,000,000. That they had been presented and registered in accordance with the statutes in such case made and provided. That said warrants were valid, and evidenced an indebtedness within the constitutional limitation. That the assessed value of the property in Lake county for the year 1877 was $364,511.40 and for the year 1878 $603,858.92. That on the 1st day of January, 1882, there was due on the warrants above mentioned for principal and interest, the sum of $10,232.70. That on that date the county of Lake, in compliance with the provisions of the statute in such case made and provided, proceeded to fund the indebtedness of said county, and issued therefor funding bonds of said county, with interest coupons attached, and thereupon delivered to said Corbett 10 bonds for $1,000 each, in exchange for the said warrants above mentioned. These bonds were numbered as follows: 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193, 194, 195, and 196,--which were duly sold, transferred, and assigned to this plaintiff, who is now, and ever since has been, the owner and holder of said bonds and the coupons thereto attached. That the county of Lake paid all the coupons upon each of said bonds up to the coupons following the date of July 1, 1885. That since that time the county of Lake has failed, refused, and neglected to pay any of said coupons, and that there is now due from said county, on each of said bonds, 16 coupons, of $40 each, for and on account of interest on the bonds above mentioned. A demurrer to the complaint was interposed and overruled. Thereupon the defendant answered, specifically denying and admitting certain allegations of the complaint, and, among other affirmative defenses, averred that, at the time the indebtedness evidenced by said warrants and bonds accrued (except the sum of $589, due July 17, 1879), the assessed valuation of said county exceeded $1,000,000; and that the aggregate amount of the indebtedness of said county, exclusive of the debts contracted before the adoption of the constitution, exceeded at that time the sum of $6 on each $1,000 of said valuation. Defendant further averred that the assessed valuation of the county of Lake for the year 1879 was the sum of $3,485,628, for the year 1880 the sum of $11,426,189, for the the year 1881 the sum of $16,423,403, subsequently and in the year 1882 rebated to $5,017,000; that the floating indebtedness of said county for the year 1879 was $86,146.81, and for the year 1881, exclusive of the bonded indebtedness, was the sum of $312,562.58; for the year 1881, up to and including the 6th day of September, 1883, the floating indebtedness of said county (exclusive of its bonded indebtedness, then amounting to $55,000) was $500,000; that the amount of indebtedness of said county which the board of county commissioners could alone have funded, and the question of funding which could have been submitted to the lawful voters of said county at the election of 1881, was the sum of $15,000 (assuming said bonded indebtedness to be void); yet the board of county commissioners of said county, wrongfully and unlawfully, issued bonds to the amount of $500,000, of which the bonds of plaintiff were a part. Plaintiff, by replication, specifically denied the material averments of the answer.

Upon the trial, the following agreed statement of facts was admitted in evidence: 'For the purposes of trial of this action, the following facts are hereby stipulated and agreed upon, and the same are to be admitted in evidence, so far as they are relevant, competent, and material under the issues joined: First. It is agreed that the warrants mentioned in the complaint herein, as having been presented by Thomas Corbett for the purpose of exchange into bonds, were in numbers, amounts, and dates as stated in said complaint. Second. That said warrants and the interest thereon were converted into bonds as a part of the bond issue of Lake county, amounting to $500,000 in 1882; and said warrants were exchanged for bonds of that issue, which were afterwards, and have been, duly numbered 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193 194, 195, and 196, and that the preceding bonds, numbered from 1 to 184, inclusive, had been issued before that time, and were for $1,000 each; the whole being a part of said bonded issue of $500,000, all of which were issued practically at the same time, in 1882. Third. It is agreed that the said Joseph Standley is the owner of said bonds, and acquired such ownership before the commencement of this suit, and without notice as to their invalidity, except implied notice, arising from the face of said bonds, the statutes, records, and procedings, leading up to the issuance of said bonds, and in exchange for said warrants, paying a valuable consideration therefor. Fourth. That, at the time and before the commencement of this suit, the said coupons were in default; that is to say, were unpaid. Fifth. It is agreed that the assessed valuation for Lake county for the years 1877 and 1878 was as stated in the complaint when completed. Sixth. That the assessed value of said Lake county for the years 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, and 1883 was as stated in the answer when completed. Seventh. As no statement is contained in the pleading as to the amount of indebtedness during the years 1878 or 1879, it is agreed that the amount shown by the books kept by the county clerk of said county may be used in evidence for the purpose ofshowing such amounts. Eighth. That, as to the semiannual statement of indebtedness, said books may be used for the purpose of showing amounts, but not for the purpose of showing any publication of such amounts. Ninth. Either side may object to the competency, materiality, or relevancy of the above facts, or any of them, and may introduce other testimony to support the issues, in addition to the facts above mentioned.' Plaintiff introduced in evidence certain record entries from the journal of the county commissioners of Lake county for the year 1879, from which it appeared that on April 25, 1879, the bid of George E. King for the iron work on the county jail was accepted, for the sum of $10,000. On May 3, 1879, the bid of A. E. Jones, for the construction of buildings, was accepted, for the sum of $6,250. On October 9, 1879, warrants were ordered to be drawn on the county fund for the following amounts: 'George E. King, jail, $500; George E. King, jail, $700; George E. King, jail, $650; George E. King, jail, $1,413.' On September 1, 1879, on motion, George E. King was allowed the sum of $2,500, in part payment for the county jail, and warrant ordered drawn for the same. On July 8, 1879, George E. King and A. E. Jones were ordered to proceed with the work for the construction of the jail. Plaintiff also introduced in evidence the tax levy for the fiscal year 1879, being on pages 80 and 81 of said record, and page 47 of the record, dated July 23, 1879, showing various changes and corrections in the assessed valuation, made by the board of equalization. The defendant then introduced the following evidence: 'Pages 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the bond register of Lake county, showed a registry of bonds Nos. 67 to 129, inclusive, dated July 31, 1880; also, bonds numbered 55 to 56, inclusive, dated December 30, 1879, constituting a total issue of bonds in the sum of $50,000.' The defendant then offered in evidence, from the bond register, bonds, series A, B, and C, funding bonds of Lake county, aggregating $500,000, and numbered from 1 to 710, showing the parties to whom the bonds were issued; the assessment roll of Lake county for the year 1879, certified to by the assessor on July 18, 1879, and showing the total valuation of property in the county for that year $3,485,087; also a certified copy of the official abstract of the assessment made by the clerk and recorder of Lake county for 1879, bearing date of August 18, 1879, showing the value of assessed property for that year to be $3,485,087. It was admitted by counsel for plaintiff that on the 2d day of October, 1879, the indebtedness of Lake county amounted to $56,966.47. And the register of county orders also showed that on August 11th the debt was $45,984.97; on September 9th it was $55,020.72; on January 1, 1880, it was, exclusive of road warrants, $95,891.63; that for the year 1880 the indebtedness, exclusive of the bonded indebtedness,...