Columbus Southern Ry Co v. Wright

• Decision Date: 29 January 1894
• Docket Number: No. 753,753
• Parties: COLUMBUS SOUTHERN RY. CO. v. WRIGHT, Comptroller General
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

151 U.S. 470

14 S.Ct. 396

38 L.Ed. 238

COLUMBUS SOUTHERN RY. CO.

v WRIGHT, Comptroller General.

No. 753.

January 29, 1894.

Wm. A. Nimbish, for plaintiff in error.

Clifford Anderson and J. M. Terrell, Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice JACKSON delivered the opinion of the court.

The question presented by the record in this case is whether an act of the legislature of Georgia approved October 16 1889, entitled 'An act to provide a system of taxation of railroad property in each of the counties of this state through which said railroads run, and to provide a mode of assessing and collecting the same, and for other purposes,' violates that clause of the fourteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States which declares that 'no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws.'

The act complained of provides as follows:

'Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of this state, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the same, that hereafter in each and every year, on or before the first day of May, each and every railroad company in this state shall make an annual return to the comptroller-general of this state, for the purposes of county taxation in each of the counties through which said road runs, in the following manner: Said return shall be under the oath of the president or other chief executive officer, and shall show the following facts as they existed on the first day of April preceding, to wit: First, showing the aggregate value of the whole property of said railroad company; second, showing the value of the real estate and track bed of said company; third, showing the value of the rolling stock and all other personal property of said company; fourth, showing the value of the company's property in each county through which it runs.

'Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, etc., that, whenever the amount of the tax levy of any county through which the said railroad runs is assessed by the authority of such county, it shall be the duty of the ordinary thereof to certify the same and transmit such certificate to the comptroller general; and the property of such railroad companies shall be subject to taxation in each and every county through which the same passes to the same extent and in the same manner that all other property is taxed, in the manner hereafter set out.

'Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, etc., that, whenever such certificate is received by the comptroller-general, it shall be his duty to proceed to assess the amount of each and every railroad company's property, in each and every of siad coun- ties, in the following manner: First, it shall be assessed upon the property located in each county upon the basis of the value given by the returns required by section first of this act; second, the amount of tax to be assessed upon the rolling stock and other personal property is as follows: As the value of the property located in the particular county is to the value of the whole property, real and personal, of the said company, such shall be amount of rolling stock and other personal property to be distributed for taxing purposes to each county. These two, the value of the property located in the county and the share of the rolling stock and personal property thus ascertained and apportioned to each of such counties, shall be the amount to be taxed to the extent of the assessment in each county.

'Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, etc., that should the property of any railroad company in this state be not subject to taxation, as hereinbefore provided, but taxable upon its net income, such railroad company shall report to the comptroller-general the entire length of its road, the different counties through which such road runs, and the number of miles in each county, which report shall be made at the time that railroad companies are required to return their property for taxation. When the income of such road is returned to the comptroller-general he shall estimate the amount of income for each county through which such road runs, upon which shall be levied for such county a tax to be ascertained in the following manner: In the proportion that the road in each county bears to the whole length of the road, in that proportion shall the income returned by said road be taxed by each county through which it passes. Such income shall be taxed at the rate fixed by the charter of such railroad company, which tax shall be assessed and collected by the comptroller-general, and by him paid over to the county entitled to such tax. If any railroad company refuses to pay such tax the comptroller shall issue execution for the amount of said tax due to each county, which shall be levied on any property of said company. The railroad company may resist such tax as is herein provided in case of tax on property of railroad companies.

'Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, etc., that whenever the comptroller-general shall ascertain and levy in the manner specified in the preceding section, the amount of tax due by such company to each of such counties, it shall be his duty at once to notify the president and treasurer of such railroad company of the amount due in each of said counties for county taxes of said railroads, and each and every road is hereby required, within sixty days from the receipt of such notice. to pay to the tax collector of each county through which the railroad runs the amount mentioned by the comptroller-general as the tax due to such county.

'Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, etc., if any railroad company shall refuse to pay, within sixty days, the amount thus ascertained and due by it, to the tax collector of any county to which the same is due and payable, it shall be the duty of the comptroller-general to at once issue a fi. fa. in the name of the state of Georgia, against such railroad company, for the same; to be issued, levied, and returned in the same manner as tax fi. fas. are issued for state taxes due in the state by said companies.

'Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, etc., if any railroad company shall dispute the liability to such county tax, it may be done by an affidavit of illegality, to be made by the president of said railroad in the same manner as other affidavits of illegality are made, and shall be returned for trial to the superior court of the county of Fulton, where such cases shall be given precedence for trial over all other cases, except tax cases, in which the state shall be a party.

'Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, etc., that all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.'

By an act approved in 1874 provision was made for the taxation of railroad property for state purposes, but this act of 1889 was the first statute enacted providing for the taxation of railroad property for county purposes.

The plaintiff in error is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Georgia, having its principal office or domicile in the city of Columbus, Muscogee county, in that state, with its line of railway extending through the counties of Chattahoochee, Stewart, Terrell, Webster, and Lee, to the city of Albany, in the county of Dougherty. With the exception of its right of way, roadbed, superstructure, depots, and usual appurtenances along the line of its road, the undistributed property of the corporation, such as its choses in action, etc., is situated in Muscogee county.

Under the provisions of the first section of the act, set out above, the railroad company made return of its property for the year 1890. Upon the basis of that return the comptroller general of the state assessed and levied taxes for the benefit of the several counties through which the railroad extended, (after such counties had certified to him their respective tax rate and levies,) and on October 27, 1890, notified the company that the taxes so levied must be paid to the respective tax collectors of the several counties within 60 days from the date of the notice.

The tax rate upon the property thus assessed, as stated in the notice of the comptroller general, was different in the different counties. For Muscogee county it was 2 1/2 mills, for Chattahoochee it was 8 mills, for Stewart it was 5 mills, for Terrell it was 5.34 mills, and for Webster county it was 3.47 mills; these rates of taxation being imposed by the respective counties on other property situate therein and subject to taxation.

Before the expiration of the 60 days, within which the railroad company was required to make payment of the taxes thus assessed, it filed its bill or equitable petition in the superior court of Fulton county against William A. Wright, comptroller general, for an injunction, and relief against the payment of these county taxes.

In the petition it was alleged that the act was repugnant to the constitution of the state of Georgia, for various reasons: First, that it was inconsistent with that provision of the constitution which required that 'all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects and ad valorem on all property subject to be taxed within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax;' second, that the act was a special one, whereas the constitution required that all taxes should be levied and collected under general laws; third, that the act provided for a tax to be levied and collected by the state for the benefit of the counties, when the state had no authority, under the constitution, to tax for such a purpose; fourth, that the act embraced two subjects-matter, viz. the 'property of certain railroads' and also the 'net incomes as to certain other railroads,' while the constitution declares that 'no law or ordinance shall pass which refers to more than one subject-matter;' fifth, because the affidavit of illegality which a railroad company was authorized to file against an execution to collect the taxes authorized by the statute was required to be filed and...