City of Van Alstyne v. State ex rel. Bd. of Trustees of Anna Independent School Dist.

• Decision Date: 08 February 1952
• Docket Number: No. 14451,14451
• Citation: 246 S.W.2d 671
• Parties: CITY OF VAN ALSTYNE et al. v. STATE ex rel. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE ANNA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 671

246 S.W.2d 671

CITY OF VAN ALSTYNE et al. v. STATE ex rel. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE ANNA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST.

No. 14451.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

Feb. 8, 1952.

Rehearing Denied March 7, 1952.

J. C. Hinsley, Austin, for appellants.

Roland Boyd and Dwight Whitwell, both of McKinney, for appellee.

YOUNG, Justice.

The appeal is from judgment rendered in a quo warranto proceeding brought by The State of Texas through agency of the Criminal District Attorney of Collin County, as plaintiff, on relation of the Board of Trustees of Anna Independent School District, Collin County, against the City of Van Alstyne and Board of Trustees of the Van Alstyne Independent School District as defendants. Prior to the instant controversy the City of Van Alstyne (claiming authority under Art. 2803, Vernon's Ann.Civ.St., for its action) had passed ordinance No. 238 extending the corporate limits of the City for school purposes only, so as to include a part of the Anna Independent School District; appellee asserting invalidity of such ordinance. In a trial to the court said order of extension was held to be void and that, in consequence, the territory described therein did not become a part of the City of Van Alstyne for school purposes, nor was such area subject to control by the City or the Van Alstyne Independent School District. Appeal was duly perfected by the Van Alstyne authorities from this adverse ruling.

It was agreed between the parties that the Anna Independent School District is a duly organized and acting public corporation under State Laws, lying in the northern part of Collin County near the south boundary line of Grayson County; that Van Alstyne is a duly incorporated City located in the south portion of Grayson County, having complete control and management of the Van Alstyne Independent School District which covers generally the City of Van Alstyne and adjacent area; extending over into Collin County, adjoining Anna Independent School District line, and supervised by appellant Board of Trustees.

The stipulations further provided: 'That on or about the 18th day of August, 1950, the City of Van Alstyne, acting by and though its Board of City Commissioners, passed an ordinance, a true copy of which is attached to plaintiff's original petition; that the purpose of said ordinance was to take out of the Anna Independent School District certain territory which had theretofore been incorporated within the limits of said Anna Independent School District, and to annex said territory to the City of Van Alstyne, Texas, for school purposes only; that this suit was filed on the 17th day of November, 1950, and thereafter, to-wit, on the 8th day of December, 1950, the Board of Commissioners of the City of Van Alstyne, by their Ordinance No. 238, passed an ordinance, a true copy of which is attached to defendant's original answer; that since the passage of said ordinance the City of Van Alstyne has claimed the territory described in said ordinance as a part of the Van Alstyne Independent School District, and is asserting dominion over said territory and is attempting to levy and assess taxes upon taxable property situated in said territory, thus depriving the Anna Independent School District of the tax revenue on said property. That at the time of passing said first ordinance the Anna Independent School District had outstanding bonds in the amount of $13,200 (about $13,000), that no provision has been made by the City of Van Alstyne to assume any part of the bonded indebtedness; that prior to the purported annexation ordinance the Anna Independent School District had voted a $40,000 bond issue on July 1, 1950, and the territory over which said bond election was held included the territory now in question; but at the time of the passage of the first of such ordinances none of such bonds authorized by the election of July 1, 1950, had been issued of sold; that since the passage of said ordinance the Attorney General has refused to approve said issue; that the total assessed valuation of taxable property in the Anna Independent School District, before said ordinance was passed, was $873,913; that the total assessed valuation of taxable property in the territory in question, at the same time, was $27,999; that on the 28th day of July, 1947, the County School Trustees of Grayson County, and the County School Trustees of Collin County, the Board of Trustees of the Van Alstyne School District, the Board of Trustees of the Anna Independent School District, and the City Commission of the City of Van Alstyne, Texas, took certain action at a meeting held in the City of Van Alstyne in Grayson County, Texas, and entered certain orders, as reflected by the following true copies of the minutes of such Boards, including any attachments or exhibits to such minutes. (Effect of this 1947 transaction, pursuant to Art. 2742f, sec. 1, was a division of the territory comprising two common school districts of Collin County, adjoining the Grayson County line, which could no longer provide proper instruction for their scholastics; attaching part of same to the Van Alstyne Independent School District and part to the Anna Independent School District.) That before the City Commission of the City of Van Alstyne enacted the ordinance of December 8, 1950, a petition, signed by a majority of the resident qualified voters of the territory described in said ordinance, was presented to such City Commission of the City of Van Alstyne; that prior to the enactment of such ordinance it was recommended to the City Commission of the City of Van Alstyne, by the unanimous vote of all the trustees of the public free schools of the City of Van Alstyne, that such territory be annexed to the City of Van Alstyne, Texas, for school purposes only; the proposed annexation would not deprive the scolastic children of the remaining Anna Independent School District of an opportunity of attendance upon school.

'That said Van Alstyne Independent School District is a county line school district in that parts are in Grayson County and in Collin County. That no action has been taken either by the Grayson County Board of School Trustees or the Collin County Board of School Trustees, or the Trustees of the Anna Independent School District with reference to the disputed territory which is the subject of this lawsuit, nor has either County Board of Trustees made any adjustment on outstanding bonds of the said Anna District. The said Anna Independent School District is situated wholly in Collin County, Texas, and was at all times pertinent to this proceeding. That the plaintiff's first amended original petition was filed on May 1, 1951. That there was introduced at the present Regular Session of the Texas Legislature a House Bill 86 which was passed by the House of Representatives on March 1, 1951, and by the Senate on April 12, 1951, and was passed by the required vote to make the same immediately effective upon approval by the Governor of Texas, that the Governor of Texas signed and approved said House Bill 86 on April 24, 1951; that the House Bill became effective on April 24, 1951, and that on April 24, 1951, there was not any proceeding of any nature before the State Commissioners of Education of Texas or the State Board of Education in Texas in which said Ordinance No. 238 of the City of Van Alstyne, Texas, was attacked or its validity questioned, nor was the validity of same at that time involved in any other court or suit except this proceeding. That this suit was originally filed in the 59th District Court of Collin County, Texas, on the 17th day of November, 1950; that it was on the 8th day of February, 1951, transferred to the 59th District Court of Grayson County, Texas; that the annexation of the territory in question was attacked in plaintiff's original petition, which was filed on the 17th day of November, 1950; that subsequent to the 17th day of November, 1950, to-wit, the 8th day of December, 1950, Van Alstyne City Ordinance No. 238 was passed; that said ordinance covered the same territory which was the subject of the original suit. That on the 24th day of February, 1951, a pre-trial was held in this suit wherein it was stipulated that the City of Van Alstyne had passed said Ordinance No. 238. That in defendant's original answer, filed on the 8th day of December, 1950, said answer pleaded the passage of Ordinance No. 238 and had annexed thereto said ordinance as an exhibit and by reference incorporated same in said pleading. It is stipulated that the two ordinances cover the identical land.'

In response to defendant's request, the trial court made and filed the following findings of fact and conclusions of law: (Findings 1, 2, and 3, relative to legal status of the two Districts, are omitted, having already been stated as matters of fact.) '(4) That the present common boundary line between the two districts was filed on the 25th day of July, 1947 by the joint and simultaneous action and orders of the Grayson Cunty and Collin boards of school trustees, and the trustees of each of the two districts. (5) That the City of Van Alstyne, acting under the purported right given it by Article 2803 of the Revised Civil Statutes attempted to extend its corporate limits for school purposes only, so as to detach from the Anna School District and annex to the Van Alstyne district the territory described in the ordinances passed by the City Commission of Van Alstyne; which ordinances are attacked in this suit and are shown in the record of this case. (6) That all ordinances were passed without the permission of the Collin County Board of School Trustees, or the permission of the trustees of the Anna Independent School District, or the permission of the Grayson County Board of School Trustees, but with the consent of the trustees of Van Alstyne School District, and upon a signed petition as required by Article 2803. (7) That at the date of the...