Colvard v. Ridley, 21853
| Decision Date | 19 November 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 21853,21853 |
| Citation | 218 Ga. 490,128 S.E.2d 732 |
| Parties | T. W. COLVARD et al. v. Clearance RIDLEY, Commissioner, et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Pittman & Kinney, H. E. Kinney, Dalton, for plaintiff in error.
Mitchell & Mitchell, Dalton, Sam Calhoun, Jr., Chatsworth, for defendant in error.
Alleging themselves to be citizens and taxpayers of Murray County, Georgia, T. W. Colvard and 17 others in their own behalf and in behalf of other similarly situated citizens and taxpayers of that county filed a suit for equitable relief against Clarence Ridley, individually and as sole Commissioner of Roads and Revenues of Murray County; Jimmy Gregory, individually and as Tax Commissioner of Murray County; and Smythe Newsome Houston Burt, and W. H. Bramblett, individually and as the members of the Board of Tax Assessors of Murry County. Briefly and in substance, their petition alleges that for 1962 State and county ad valorem tax purposes the members of Murray County's Board of Tax Assessors adopted and used the following assessment procedure: They ascertained and determined the value of all taxable realty in the county wholly from an appraisal of it which J. L. Jacobs & Company, an appraisal firm, had previously made for Murray County--an appraisal showing and fixing its actual market value; they accepted the value of all tangible personal property, other than household and kitchen furniture, at what ever value it was returned for by each separate taxpayer without making any investigation or inquiry whatsoever as to its fair market value; and they arbitrarily fixed the value of all household and kitchen furniture at an amount equal to 10% of the fair market value of the owner's dwelling and the land on which it was located. After so determining the value of all real and tangible personal property of each taxpayer, the board assessed it for taxes at 40% of such valuations. The petition alleges that, according to the respective values of each, the assessment procedure employed and used by the board of tax assessors does not impose a uniform tax on property of the same class. It is also alleged that the method employed by the board of tax assessors in assessing household and kitchen furniture and other different types of tangible personal property imposes an unequal tax on personal property. It is also alleged that the procedure used by the board of tax assessors was, for the reason alleged, discriminatory; that it did not equalize the burden of taxation between the several taxpayers of the county owning property of the same class; and that the assessments as thus made by the board of tax assessors offend enumerated constitutional provisions of this State and of the United States. In addition to prayers for certain injunctive relief, the petition also prays for a decree declaring the assessments to be illegal, null and void; and, for such reason, that they be vacated and set aside. The petition was dismissed on general demurrers and the exception is to that judgment.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
1. Art. VII, Sec. I, Par. III of the Constitution of 1945 provides: Code Ann. § 2-5403. And Art. I, Sec. I, Par. II of our Constitution declares that '[p]rotection to person and property is the paramount duty of government, and shall be impartial and complete.' Code Ann. § 2-102. 'Taxation on all real and tangible personal property subject to be taxed is required to be ad valorem--that is, according to value, and the requirement in the Constitution that the rule of taxation shall be uniform, means that all kinds of property of the...
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In re Del. Pub. Sch. Litig.
...Castle County also cites two non-Delaware cases that express similar sentiments. See Dkt. 223 at 66 n.30 (citing Colvard v. Ridley , 218 Ga. 490, 128 S.E.2d 732, 734 (1962) (interpreting uniformity requirement as ensuring "that all taxable property within the county is returned and assessed......
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...is a plain, speedy and efficient remedy."); Undercofler v. Eastern Air Lines, 221 Ga. 824, 147 S.E.2d 436 (1966); Colvard v. Ridley, 218 Ga. 490, 128 S.E.2d 732 (1962). There is also no indication that the Georgia courts would feel compelled to defer to potential administrative remedies bef......
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...manner prescribed by statute is indispensable to any proceedings to enforce the collection of ad valorem taxes. See Colvard v. Ridley, 218 Ga. 490, 128 S.E.2d 732 (1962); Hutchins v. Howard, 211 Ga. 830, 89 S.E.2d 183 (1955). "[A]ssessment when used in connection with the subject of taxatio......
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...the individual taxpayers ... according to the best information obtainable.(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Colvard v. Ridley, 218 Ga. 490, 490(1), 128 S.E.2d 732 (1962) ; accord Sherman, 288 Ga. at 91, 701 S.E.2d 472 (“[i]t is clear that county boards of tax assessors are not required t......