Browder v. Memphis Independent School Dist.

• Citation: 172 S.W. 152
• Decision Date: 28 November 1914
• Docket Number: (No. 682.)
• Parties: BROWDER et al. v. MEMPHIS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas

172 S.W. 152

BROWDER et al. v. MEMPHIS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al.

(No. 682.)

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Amarillo.

November 28, 1914.

Rehearing Denied December 19, 1914.

Appeal from District Court, Hall County; J. A. Nabers, Judge.

Action by John Browder and others against the Memphis Independent School District and others. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed.

Moss & Leak and H. D. Spencer, all of Memphis, for appellants. Presler, Thorne & Hamilton, of Memphis, for appellees.

HALL, J.

This action was brought by John Browder and John Gibson, appellants, against the Memphis Independent School District, and the trustees thereof, to cancel and set aside the order of the trustees of said district, ordering the issuance of bonds to the amount of $40,000, and for the cancellation of said bonds. Appellants, in their petition, allege that they are property owners and taxpayers in the school district; that on the 3d day of December, 1913, the school district was duly organized, including the city of Memphis, and the surrounding territory, to the extent of about 25 square miles; and that during the month of August, 1913, at the called session of the Thirty-Third Legislature, the original district was by an act of the Legislature enlarged so as to include in said district land and territory lying immediately east and northeast and adjacent to said district, aggregating about 18 square miles; that prior to the 3d day of December, 1913, and on said date, there was outstanding against said district school district bonds approximating $15,000; that a tax upon the taxable property of said district had been and was being assessed, levied, and collected for the purpose of providing a sinking fund sufficient to pay the said bonds at maturity, and also for the purpose of paying the interest annually on said bonds, as it should accrue; that most, if not all, of said $15,000 bond issue is still outstanding against the district, and there was also being assessed, levied, and collected a regular maintenance tax; that the aggregate of said bond tax and maintenance tax so assessed, levied, and collected was the constitutional limit of 50 cents on the $100 valuation of the property in said district; that on said 3d day of December, 1913, the said trustees held an election previously called to determine whether or not there should be issued schoolhouse building bonds to the extent of $40,000 and whether or not there should be annually assessed, levied, and collected a tax sufficient to pay the interest annually as it accrues, and to provide a sinking fund sufficient to pay said bonds at maturity, which said election resulted in favor of the issuance of said bonds and of the assessment, levying, and collecting of sufficient taxes to pay the interest annually and to provide a sinking fund to pay off said bonds at their maturity; that a tax of 15 cents on the $100 valuation was levied by said defendant trustees upon the taxable property of the district, and said property has been assessed, and there is and will be an attempt to collect said illegal tax; that there was already a tax of 15 cents on the $100 valuation of property in said district, being assessed, levied, and collected; that the 15 cents so levied was in excess of the amount allowed by the Constitution for bonding and maintenance purposes; that there was no legally authorized tax assessor appointed by the trustees of said district to make an assessment of the taxable property within the limits of said district, and there was never any assessment of the property in said district made by any assessor of taxes for the district, but that in making out the rolls used by said district the assessor's rolls of the county of Hall and state of Texas, or a copy thereof, was used; that the tax collector of Hall county, Tex., was and is collecting the taxes due the said district, there being no legally authorized assessor and collector of taxes for said district. It is further alleged that the board of equalization appointed by the trustees, in equalizing the valuations of property in the district, used the rolls made out by the county assessor of Hall county; that said board assumed to and did raise the valuations fixed by the state and county, as shown by the assessor's rolls of the taxable property in said school district, to an extent of at least 50 per cent. over and above the valuation so fixed by the state and county for taxable purposes, and this excess of 50 per cent. was fixed in estimating the value of the taxable property in said school district to determine the rate of taxes to be levied by the defendant trustees of said district for maintenance and bonding purposes; that the valuation of 50 per cent. over and above the state and county valuation was wholly void; that it was used by said trustees in estimating the value of the taxable property upon which to base the issue of bonds to the amount of $40,000; that the amount of taxes on the $100 valuation authorized by law to be levied by said trustees, estimated on the values fixed by the state and county, by which said defendant district was bound, is...