Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corp. v. Thomas

• Citation: 9 A.2d 727
• Parties: CLEARFIELD BITUMINOUS COAL CORPORATION v. THOMAS et al.
• Decision Date: 08 December 1939
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

9 A.2d 727

CLEARFIELD BITUMINOUS COAL CORPORATION
v.
THOMAS et al.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 8, 1939.

Appeal No. 70, March term, 1939, from decree of Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County, No. 1, March term, 1937, in equity; John H. McCann and Charles C. Greer, Judges.

Suit in equity by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation against John Thomas, Jr., and others, County Commissioners of Cambria County, to restrain defendants from continuing assessed value of plaintiff's land at sum exceeding $1 per acre and require them to reduce assessment to amount not exceeding such sum. Decree for plaintiff, and defendants appeal.

Reversed.

Argued before KEPHART, C. J, and SCHAFFER, MAXEY, DREW, LINN, STERN, and BARNES, JJ.

George M. Spence, of Johnstown, for appellants.

Robert M. Fisher, of Indiana, and Philip N. Shettig and Thomas A. Swope, both of Ebensburg, for appellee.

Claude T. Reno, Atty. Gen, and Marshall M. Cohen, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen, for interveners.

MAXEY, Justice.

The County Commissioners of Cambria County appeal from the action of the Court

9 A.2d 728

of Common Pleas of that county in holding that the Act of July 18, 1935, P.L. 1196, 32 P.S. § 75 et seq, is constitutional. If the decree of the court stands, the County Commissioners are bound to comply with the mandate of the Act and of the certificate of the Secretary of Forests and Waters, to wit: to reduce on their records the assessment upon certain surface lands of the appellee corporation to an amount not in excess of $1 per acre and to maintain such assessment until further notified by the Department of Forests and Waters.

The case was heard upon bill and answer. There was no dispute as to the facts. These are, inter alia, as follows: Plaintiff is the owner of a tract of unseated surface land containing 416 acres situate in Chest Township, Cambria County. Pursuant to the provisions of the Act of June 5, 1913, P.L. 426, 32 P.S. § 61 et seq, plaintiff caused this land to be classified as auxiliary forest reserves and entered into a contract with the State Forestry Reservation Commission as provided by that act. The commission thereupon certified the land to the County Commissioners of Cambria County and thereafter plaintiff's land was valued for the purpose of taxation at the rate of $1 per acre under the provisions of the Act of 1913. One of the courts of common pleas of this Commonwealth declared this Act of 1913 unconstitutional, and no appeal from such decision having been taken, the Secretary of Forests and Waters, who had succeeded to the powers and duties of the State Forestry Reservation Commission, acting upon the opinion and advice of the Attorney General of this State, notified in October, 1934, the owners of all lands classified as auxiliary forest reserves under the Act of 1913, and the County Commissioners of the several counties wherein such lands are situate, that the contracts between the several owners and the State Forestry Reservation Commission as provided by that act were canceled.

Subsequently, the now challenged Act of July 18, 1935, P.L. 1196, was passed. Section 2 provides that "all surface land which would be suitable for the growing of merchantable forest products, whether they are now growing or shall hereafter be planted out, sown by seed, or reproduced naturally, and would thereby contribute to an adequate lumber supply for the people, protect the water supply, and give aid to flood control and to the prevention of soil erosion, may be set apart according to the provisions of this act and exclusively used for growing trees for production of such merchantable products, and is hereby constituted a separate and distinct class of land to be known as forest reserves, auxiliary to the State owned forest reserves. * * *" This section further provides the method whereby the owner of surface land may cause his land to be included in the aforementioned classification. Section 8 provides, inter alia, that all surface land classified and set apart as auxiliary forest reserves under the provisions of the Act shall be rated in value for the purpose of taxation not in excess of $1 per acre and shall continue to be so rated so long as the land remains within the class established by section 2. Section 9 requires the County Commissioners to reduce the assessment on their records to a sum not in excess of $1 per acre.

Except for the nominal tax resulting from the assessment of the land so classified, at $1 an acre, no tax is paid on the land until the trees are "harvested", at and after which time "ten per centum of the stumpage value of the trees" is payable, as provided in section 10 of the Act. As to when trees shall be harvested, section 4 provides as follows: "Whenever trees growing on said surface land have become suitable for merchantable forest products, the secretary shall, at the request of the owner, or on his own motion, make an examination of said land and designate for the owner the trees to be cut, if in the judgment of the secretary there be any, and the cutting and removal of said trees so designated shall be in accordance with the instructions of the secretary." A dispute between the secretary and the owner as to the desirability of the cutting and removal of the trees, is made a question for judicial determination.

This Act may be summarized as follows: For what it deems to be the general welfare, the legislature has provided a means by which the owners of certain types of lands can be almost wholly exempted from the payment of taxes for years and until the timber on those lands is "harvested". Whether or not any timber on such...