City of Ardmore v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Tax Commission

• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: OSBORN, Justice.
• Citation: City of Ardmore v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Tax Commission, 32 P.2d 728, 168 Okla. 316, 1934 OK 224 (Okla. 1934)
• Decision Date: 10 April 1934
• Docket Number: 24029.
• Parties: CITY OF ARDMORE v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMMISSION.

32 P.2d 728

168 Okla. 316, 1934 OK 224

CITY OF ARDMORE v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMMISSION.

No. 24029.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

April 10, 1934

Rehearing Denied May 1, 1934.

Application for Leave to File Second Petition for Rehearing Denied May 22, 1934.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Section 6, art. 10, of the Constitution applies to a property tax and has no application to an excise tax.

2. Gasoline purchased and used by a municipality is not exempt from the gasoline excise tax levied by the provisions of section 12527, O. S. 1931 (section 1, c. 278, Sess. Laws 1929, amending section 1, c. 198, Sess. Laws 1925, amending section 1, c. 101, Sess. Laws (Sp. Sess.) 1923-24, amending section 1, c. 239, Sess. Laws 1923).

Appeal from District Court, Carter County; Asa E. Walden, Judge.

Action by the State, on the relation of the Oklahoma Tax Commission against the City of Ardmore. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant appeals.

Judgment affirmed.

Williams & Williams and J. E. Williams, all of Ardmore, for plaintiff in error.

C. W King, Claude Hendon, L. G. Harries and A. L. Herr, all of Oklahoma City, and J. Berry King, Atty. Gen., and Randell S Cobb, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

J. H. Hill, John R. Ramsey, B. W. Griffith, and Sol. H. Kauffman, all of Tulsa, J. W. Finley, Warren T. Spies, and Hayes McCoy, all of Bartlesville, Harlan T. Deupree and A. P. VanMeter, both of Oklahoma City, and Forrester Brewster, of Muskogee, amici curiæ.

OSBORN Justice.

This action was brought by the State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Tax Commission against the City of Ardmore in the district court of Carter county, wherein, under the provisions of section 12527, O. S. 1931, the state sought to recover an amount alleged to be due by reason of the failure of the city of Ardmore to pay the gasoline tax on a carload of gasoline purchased by the city and delivered to it through interstate commerce, which had been used by the city in the operation of its fire, police, and other municipal departments. The trial court found that the city was liable for the payment of said tax and from the judgment of the trial court, the city has appealed. The parties will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court.

The contention of the defendant is that the statutes which purport to levy an excise tax on gasoline against municipalities contravene the provision of section 6, art. 10, of the Constitution, which provides that all property of municipalities of this state shall be exempt from taxation.

The principal issue before the court is whether or not the Legislature has levied an excise tax on gasoline consumed by municipal corporations in this state, and, if so, does said act or acts contravene the provisions of the Constitution? These two issues are so allied that we shall discuss them together.

In construing a statute the general rule is that the intent of the Legislature, when ascertained, must govern. McCarter et al. v. State ex rel. Pitman, 82 Okl. 78, 198 P. 303. In ascertaining such intention the court may look to each part of the statute, to other statutes upon the same or relative subjects, to the evils and mischiefs to be remedied, and to the natural or absurd consequences of any particular interpretation. Blevins v. W. A. Graham Co., 72 Okl. 308, 182 P. 247. Not only must the whole statute and every part of it be considered, but where there are several statutes in pari materia, they are all, whether referred to or not, to be taken together and one part construed with another in the construction of any material provision. De Graffenreid et al. v. Iowa Land & Trust Co., 20 Okl. 687, 95 P. 624. If the language used by the Legislature conveys a definite meaning which involves no absurdity, nor any contradiction of any other parts of the statute, then that meaning apparent on the face of the statute must be accepted. Falter v. Walker, 47 Okl. 527, 149 P. 1111. Subsequent legislative enactments may be resorted to as an aid in the interpretation of prior legislation upon the same subject. State ex rel. Freeling, Attorney General, v. Howard, 67 Okl. 296, 171 P. 41.

Bearing in mind the above principles of statutory interpretation let us turn to the statute under consideration, and to kindred statutes dealing with the same general subject, and analyze their various provisions.

Section 12527, O. S. 1931 (section 1, c. 278, Sess. Laws 1929), provides in part:

"There is hereby levied an excise tax of four cents (4¢) per gallon on each and every gallon of gasoline consumed in the State of Oklahoma, to be reported and collected as hereinafter provided. * * *"

The above statute amended section 1, c. 198, Sess. Laws 1925, which was an amendment of section 1, c. 101, Sess. Laws (Sp. Sess.) 1923-24, which amended section 1, c. 239, Sess. Laws 1923. The 1923 Act provided:

"Section 1. There is hereby levied an excise tax of one (1) cent per gallon on each and every gallon of gasoline consumed in the State of Oklahoma, to be reported and collected as hereinafter provided.

Section 2. The term 'gasoline', for the purpose of this Act, shall include gasoline, benzol, liberty fuel, and such other volatile and inflammable petroleum products having a Baume gravity above 50 degrees at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit; and the term 'Consignee' shall mean the person, firm or corporation immediately receiving gasoline subject to inspection as now required by law.

Section 3. It shall be the duty of the oil inspectors and their deputies to include in their reports to the State Oil Inspector the name and address of the consignee of the gasoline inspected, the date of inspection, the number of gallons inspected, and the amount of tax thereon herein provided for; and to transmit to the State Auditor, concurrently, a duplicate copy of said report. And it shall be the duty of the consignee of all gasoline so inspected on or before the fifteenth day of each month to make and file with the State Auditor a report under oath showing the number of gallons of gasoline inspected for and received by him during the preceding calendar month, and to pay to the State Auditor the tax thereon herein provided for.

Section 4. It shall be the duty of any manufacturer or producer of gasoline, who consumes the gasoline so manufactured or produced by him, without the same being inspected, at the same time and in the same manner as required by the consignee of gasoline that has been inspected, to report the amount of such gasoline so consumed, and pay the taxes thereon herein provided for."

It is made certain by the above-quoted provisions that the Legislature intended that the "consignee" should pay a tax on all gasoline subject to inspection "as now required by law." By reference to section 11588, O. S. 1931 (section 1, c. 96, Sess. Laws 1915), we learn what gasoline was and is subject to inspection:

"All oil and liquid products of petroleum known as burning oil, or kerosene, and gasoline, by whatever name called, which may or can be used for illuminating, heating or power purposes, manufactured in this state or brought into it, shall be inspected by an authorized inspector of this state before the same are consumed, used or sold or offered to be sold, or disposed of to merchants, consumers, or other persons within the state."

Section 2 of the 1923 Act, supra, was amended by the 1929 Act (chapter 279, § 1), appearing as section 12528, O. S. 1931, the pertinent provisions thereof being:

"* * * And the term 'consignee,' or 'wholesale distributor,' shall mean the person, firm or corporation immediately receiving gasoline subject to inspection as now required by law, and manufacturers and producers who sell or deliver gasoline in quantities less than carload lots."

The legislative intent has been clearly manifested, therefore, to levy an excise tax on all gasoline "subject to inspection as now required by law" and "all oil and liquid products * * * shall be inspected * * * before the same are consumed, used or sold. * * *"

Section 35, O. S. 1931, adopted in 1890, provides:

"The word 'person,' except when used by way of contrast, includes not only human beings, but bodies politic or corporate."

The Legislature intended that all gasoline used or consumed in this state should be inspected and upon all inspected gasoline the Legislature levied a tax. The sole specific exemption is provided by section 12545, O. S. 1931 (chapter 280, § 1, Sess. Laws 1929), relating to gasoline used for operating farm tractors or stationary engines.

In 1931 the Legislature enacted chapter 66, art. 9, Sess. Laws 1931, providing means and methods of enforcing the collection of the taxes theretofore levied. Section 2 provides in part as follows:

"'Person' shall mean and include persons, firms, partnerships, companies, corporations, associations, receivers, common law trusts, statutory trusts and other concerns, by whatever name known or howsoever organized, formed or created, including cities, towns, counties, townships and other political subdivisions of the state."

Subdivision h of section 25 of said act provides as follows:

"In case any city, town, county, township or other political subdivision of the state shall fail or refuse to pay the excise tax, or any part thereof, on motor fuel subject to tax, when due, the Oklahoma Tax Commission shall issue a tax warrant for the amount of excise tax due, just as in the case of the delinquency of any other delinquent taxpayer who fails or refuses to pay the excise tax on gasoline or motor fuel and the sheriff shall serve such warrant on the county treasurer, and, from the date of such service, the same shall be a lien on all ad valorem tax penalties collected by said treasurer for and...