Bonner v. Board of Directors of St. Francis Levee District

• Decision Date: 27 January 1906
• Citation: 92 S.W. 1124,77 Ark. 519
• Parties: BONNER v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ST. FRANCIS LEVEE DISTRICT
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

92 S.W. 1124

77 Ark. 519

BONNER v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ST. FRANCIS LEVEE DISTRICT

Supreme Court of Arkansas

January 27, 1906

Appeal from St. Francis Chancery Court.EDWARD W. ROBERTSON Chancellor; affirmed.

Decree ordered.

R. J Williams, for appellant.

1.At the time of the purchase by appellee under the sale ordered by the chancery court for nonpayment of levee assessments the State's lien for taxes of 1897 had become fixed as against both owner and purchaser.

2.The costs charged against land were not excessive.Kirby's Digest, §§ 3494, 4922.

3.Wild land being assessed in a body at its lowest valuation, the owner may select and pay on part and abandon the remainder and the collector may designate and return as delinquent that part not paid on.

4.It was error to tax the costs against the plaintiff.

H. F. Roleson and N.W. Norton, for appellee.

1.Excessive costs were charged against the land on sale for delinquent taxes.61 Ark. 414; 79 S.W. 793;Kirby's Digest, §§ 3494, 3495;61 Ark. 36.

2.There was no valid assessment of the tracts sold.They were included in assessment for taxes in a larger tract assessed as a whole, and could not be separated from it and returned as delinquent.Kirby's Digest, §§ 6976, 7024, 7080, 7085.

3.The land was not subject to taxation at the time of sale to appellant.Sec. 5, art. 16,Const. 1874;59 Ark. 513;25 Am. & Eng. Enc.Law (1 Ed.), 106.

OPINION

BATTLE, J.

This suit was brought by E. Bonner against the Board of Directors of the St. Francis Levee District to quiet title to certain lands.He alleges in his complaint that the defendant purchased at a sale on the 24th day of January, 1898, for unpaid levee taxes, and by virtue of its purchase acquired a deed thereto, and on the second Monday in June, 1898, he purchased the same lands at a sale for State and county taxes.He asked "that his title be declared superior to defendant's claim of title, and that it be quieted, and the deed to the defendant be canceled, or, if the court should find that defendant had the best title, that defendant be required to refund to plaintiff all sums of money paid out on account of taxes both to the State of Arkansas and to the Board of Directors of the St. Francis Levee District, together with interest from date of such payments."

After hearing the evidence the court found that the sale to plaintiff was void, and that he had paid the taxes on the lands, which, together with interest, amounted to $ 101.50, and declared a lien in his favor for that amount, but taxed plaintiff with all the costs.

The tax books, as originally made and delivered to the collector of St. Francis County, showed that the south half of sections 34and35, in township 6 north, and in range 5 east, had been listed in the name of A. H. Chatfield, as entire tracts, and that taxes were extended against each tract of 320 acres; that the total taxes on each tract were $ 7.20, the tax rate being two and one-quarter mills on the dollar.Some one paid the taxes on the S. 1/2 of the S. 1/2 of said sections 34and35, and the taxes on the N. 1/2 of the S. 1/2 of each of said sections were not paid before the sale of the same therefor.The N. 1/2 of the S. 1/2 of each of said sections was returned delinquent for taxes of 1897, and was sold at the tax sale on the second Monday in June, 1898, and purchased at the tax sale on the second Monday in June, 1898, and purchased by the plaintiff.These are the lands in controversy.

The statutes of this State provide that real property, belonging to the same owner, shall be assessed by section, or the largest subdivision of which the same is capable; and that "in all cases, when practicable, and the land is owned by one person, or one or more persons jointly, description of lands, both on the tax books and delinquent lists, shall be in tracts not less than one hundred and sixty acres," and that lands shall be described on the delinquent...