Booth v. Owensboro Bd. of Ed.
| Decision Date | 28 May 1929 |
| Citation | 229 Ky. 719 |
| Parties | Booth v. Board of Education of City of Owensboro. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
1. Schools and School Districts. — Bond issue for school purposes is an indebtedness of board of education, where boundaries of school district coincide with those of city.
2. Municipal Corporations. — Legislature is without authority to raise limitation on indebtedness of 2 per cent. of taxable property imposed by Constitution, sec. 158.
3. Schools and School Districts. — Constitution, sec. 183, authorizing General Assembly by appropriate legislation to provide for efficient school system does not authorize Legislature to disregard limitation on indebtedness imposed by section 158, limiting indebtedness of cities of the third class to 2 per cent. of taxable property of city.
4. Schools and School Districts. — Constitution, sec. 157, fixing tax rate for various municipalities for "other than school purposes" held not to affect limitation on all indebtedness imposed by section 158, which shows intention to fix limit of indebtedness which various cities, towns, counties, taxing districts, and municipalities could not exceed for any purpose, including school purposes.
5. Municipal Corporations. — Under Constitution, sec. 158, imposing limitation on indebtedness of 2 per cent. of taxable property and providing that this limitation may be exceeded in case of emergency when public health or safety should require, to authorize city to exceed limitation, facts must be pleaded showing that such an emergency exists.
Appeal from Daviess Circuit Court.
BEN D. RINGO for appellant.
FLOYD J. LASWELL for appellee.
Reversing.
This is a taxpayer's action to enjoin the board of education of the city of Owensboro from issuing and selling school bonds amounting to $200,000. The demurrer to the petition was sustained, and the petition was dismissed. The taxpayer appeals.
Owensboro is a city of the third class with a population in excess of 20,000. Under its charter the board of education is authorized to order an election and submit to the voters the question whether or not the board shall issue bonds to any amount it deems sufficient, subject to the limitation provided by sections 157 and 158 of the Constitution, for the purpose of providing suitable grounds and school buildings and equipment. On February 23, 1929, a bond issue of $200,000 was submitted to the voters of Owensboro. The proposition carried by a vote of 1,861 to 264. It is conceded that the proceedings were all regular, and the only attack made on the validity of the bonds is that the amount of the indebtedness, together with the existing indebtedness of the board, will exceed 2 per cent. of the taxable property in the city. With respect to this contention, the facts are these: The assessed value of all taxable property in the city is $13,395,285; 2 per cent, thereof is $267,905.70. The board is already indebted in the sum of $273,000.
The precise question here involved was before the court in the recent case of Boll v. City of Ludlow, 227 Ky. 208, 12 S.W. (2d) 301. Following several cases to the same effect, we held that a bond issue for school purposes was an indebtedness of the board of education where the boundaries of the school district coincided with those of the city, that the limit of indebtedness fixed by section 158 of the Constitution was 2 per cent. of the taxable property of the city, and that the Legislature itself was without authority to raise...
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