Brooks v. Schultz

Decision Date09 December 1903
Citation178 Mo. 222,77 S.W. 861
PartiesBROOKS v. SCHULTZ, Tax Collector.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

1. Const. art. 10, § 11, provides that for city and town purposes the annual tax rate on property in cities of the third class shall not exceed 50 cents on the $100 valuation, provided that the rate of taxation for school purposes may be increased by a majority vote of taxpayers, which restriction shall apply to taxes of every description; section 1 declares that the taxing power may be exercised by municipalities under authority granted by the General Assembly; and section 10 declares that the General Assembly shall not impose taxes on cities for city purposes, but may give the municipalities authority so to do. A city of the third class having already levied a tax of 50 cents on the $100 by a majority vote of taxpayers, under Rev. St. 1899, § 6466, as amended by Act March 1901 (Laws 1901, p. 84), levied an additional tax for library purposes. Held, that the library tax was invalid, inasmuch as Const. art. 10, § 11, means that no additional tax shall be levied for any purpose, and is a limitation on the power of the General Assembly as well as on that of municipal corporations, and the library was not a school purpose.

In Banc. Appeal from Circuit Court, Cape Girardeau County.

Action by James F. Brooks against Gustave Schultz, as tax collector of the city of Cape Girardeau. From a judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff appeals. Reversed.

Frank E. Burrough, for appellant. R. B. Oliver and B. F. Davis, for respondent.

VALLIANT, J.

In September, 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Houck, of Cape Girardeau, offered to establish at their own expense in that city a free public library, and to that end to donate to the city a certain lot, and to erect thereon a library building, and equip it with furniture and books, at a cost, exclusive of the value of the lot, of not less than $30,000, on condition that the city should levy annually a tax of 2 mills on the dollar valuation of taxable property in its jurisdiction for the support of the library. The proposition was accepted by the city authorities, who, acting as directed in section 6466, Rev. St. 1899, caused an election to be held, at which a majority, but not two-thirds, of the votes cast were in favor of levying the proposed tax. The tax of 2 mills on the dollar was accordingly levied for this purpose. That levy was in addition to a tax of 50 cents on the $100 imposed by the city authorities for general revenue purposes. Cape Girardeau has a population of 6,000, and is a city of the third class. The plaintiff in this suit, who is a resident of that city, owning taxable property therein, paid the tax of 50 cents per $100 levied for general revenue, but refused to pay the 2-mill tax for library purpose, whereupon the defendant, who is the city tax collector, seized certain personal property of the plaintiff, with intent to sell the same to pay the library tax. The plaintiff, by this suit in replevin, took the property out of the tax collector's hands. At the trial it was conceded, and is now conceded, that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover if the tax was valid. The court held the tax to be valid, and rendered judgment for the defendant, from which judgment the plaintiff appeals.

Section 6466, Rev. St. 1899, amended by the act of March, 1901 (Laws 1901, p. 84), confers upon cities of this class authority to levy a tax of 2 mills on the dollar valuation of taxable property in its jurisdiction for the special purpose of establishing and maintaining a free public library, upon the conditions and in the manner provided in that section. The tax in question was levied in conformity with the requirements of that statute, and it is conceded to be valid if it is not beyond the limit of taxation prescribed by the Constitution. Section 11, art. 10, of our Constitution, ordains that "taxes for county, city, town and school purposes may be levied on all subjects and objects of taxation; but the valuation of property therefor shall not exceed the valuation of the same...

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