City of Atlanta v. Georgia Soc. of Professional Engineers, 22240
| Decision Date | 19 May 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 22240,22240 |
| Parties | CITY OF ATLANTA v. GEORGIA SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
Under the statutes regulating the practice of the professions of engineering and architecture and the agreed facts the individual plaintiffs are not subject to the municipality's tax on persons engaged in such professions.
J. C. Savage, Edwin L. Sterne, Robert F. Lyle, Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.
Arnall, Golden & Gregory, Atlanta, for defendants in error.
The Georgia Society of Professional Engineers, The Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Inc., The Consulting Engineers Association of Georgia and three individuals brought their petition against the City of Atlanta seeking a declaratory judgment as to the construction of an ordinance of the city levying an occupation tax against persons engaged in the practice of the professions of engineering and architecture and pending the adjudication of the question as to the right of the city to impose such tax they prayed that it be enjoined from enforcing such ordinance.
The defendant filed its demurrers and answer. On a hearing of the demurrers and the prayer for injunction a stipulation of facts was entered into. The court overruled the general demurrers and certain special demurrers and granted an interlocutory injunction. The city assigns error in its bill of exceptions on the overruling of the general demurrers and the grant of the interlocutory injunction.
This case is in this court for review because the petition seeks relief for themselves and the members of the class they represent and is therefore a suit in equity.
The petition alleged that: the members of the Engineering Society and associates are licensed to practice professional engineering in Georgia under the provisions of Ga.L.1945, pp., 294-311, as amended (Code Ann. Ch. 84-21); The Georgia Chapter of Architects has members who are licensed to practice architecture under the provisions of Code Ann. Ch. 84-3; petitioners Meier and Weeks are licensed to practice engineering and are employed in the City of Atlanta 'as a subordinate of a person holding a certificate of registration under said Act, but petitioner's work does not include final design decisions and is done under the responsibility of a person holding a certificate of registration under said Act'; petitioner Parks is licensed to practice architecture and is employed in the City of Atlanta 'as a draftsmen under the instructions and supervision of a person who is practicing as an architect under the provisions of said Act'; in 1962 the city adopted an ordinance which levied an occupation or license tax of $15 for the year 1963 against all persons practicing certain professions, which included architects and engineers, in the City of Atlanta; the right to impose said license tax is defined and limited by the Act of 1953 (Ga.L.1953, Jan.Sess., p. 207; Code Ann. § 92-307) which provides:
The petitioners contended that under the general laws licensing and regulating the professions of engineering and architecture and exceptions provided therein they were not subject to the occupation tax sought to be levied against them.
The trial court found that the Act of 1953 (Code Ann. § 92-307) which permits a municipality to tax these professions contained two...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
City of Atlanta v. Daley, 44491
...not be taxed (just as engineers and architects in a similar position are not taxed) relying upon City of Atlanta v. Georgia Society of Professional Engineers, 220 Ga. 62, 137 S.E.2d 41 (1964). The General Assembly has defined the practice of architecture by functions as they are performed b......
-
Herring v. Ferrell, 30018
...as previously determined by this court on certiorari, and that class actions are suits in equity, citing Atlanta v. Georgia Society of Professional Engineers, 220 Ga. 62, 137 S.E.2d 41. That case involved an equitable class action under former Code § 37-1002, which was repealed by the 1966 ......
-
Dinkler v. Jenkins, 24370
...Co. v. Ga., etc., Ry. Co., 212 Ga. 569, 94 S.E.2d 422. 2. While a class action is a suit in equity (City of Atlanta v. Georgia Society of Prof. Engineers, 220 Ga. 62, 137 S.E.2d 41), the mere statement contained in the introductory paragraph of a petition that the plaintiffs named in the pe......
-
City of Atlanta v. Day
...hold themselves out to the general public as engaged in the practice of public accountancy. In City of Atlanta v. Ga. Society of Professional Engineers, 220 Ga. 62, 65, 137 S.E.2d 41 (1964), the Supreme Court considered the same issue as it applied to the licensing requirements for engineer......