Cutright v. Civil Service Commission of Springfield

• Decision Date: 31 August 1970
• Docket Number: Gen. No. 11193
• Citation: 262 N.E.2d 102,128 Ill.App.2d 331
• Parties: Virgil CUTRIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF SPRINGFIELD, Illinois and Harold C. Hawkins, Chairman, and James McGrath and A. F. Beudel, Members of the Springfield Civil Service Commission and Joseph P. Knox, Commissioner of the Department of Public Health and Safety of Springfield, Illinois, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 102

262 N.E.2d 102

128 Ill.App.2d 331

Virgil CUTRIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF SPRINGFIELD, Illinois and Harold C. Hawkins, Chairman, and James McGrath and A. F. Beudel Members of the Springfield Civil Service Commission and Joseph P. Knox, Commissioner of the Department of Public Health and Safety of Springfield, Illinois, Defendants-Appellees.

Gen. No. 11193.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Aug. 31, 1970.

Horsley, Vespa & Lott, Springfield, for plaintiff-appellant.

W. J. Simhauser, City Atty., Springfield, for defendants-appellees.

TRAPP, Justice.

This case has been once reviewed as Cutright v. Civil Service Commission, 90 Ill.App.2d 289, 232 N.E.2d 312.We reversed the decision affirming the discharge of the employee and remanded the cause to the Circuit Court with directions to reverse the decision of the Civil Service Commission, and to remand the cause for rehearing and consideration of any evidence on the issue of prejudice to the municipal service by reason of the employee's conduct.

We then noted that the charges as filed did not appear in the record, but that the finding of the Commission was:

'13.03 * * * that the employee has committed an act or acts to the prejudice of the City Service, * * *'

'11.09(i)--That the employee has failed to pay or make reasonable provision for the payment of his just debts.'

'11.09(j)--That the employee has committed a criminal offense or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; or has been intoxicated in public.'

We suggested that an anomaly was presented by reason of the fact that the Circuit Court found that there was not sufficient evidence to support the alleged violation of the specific rules 11.09(i)and11.09(j), and in view of this we were unable to determine what the Civil Service Commission found was the act prejudicial to the city service.

The cause was heard again by the Civil Service Commission, the previous testimony introduced and additional evidence was introduced to the effect that the City would lose revenue from not having the automobile assessed in Capitol Township, and that many city employees had automobiles.We had also noted that it was not then charged that the employee attempted to avoid a tax in Sangamon County but rather to avoid a tax in any county.The Civil Service Commission then entered written 'Findings and Decision Adhering on Remandment'.

The new findings do recite that the charges are: That for the years 1962, 1963 and 1964, the employee applied for license plates giving his address as Greenview, Illinois; that prior, during and subsequent to those years he gave his voting address as Springfield, Illinois; that no personal tax was paid since 1960 in Menard County(Greenview); that the employee was not assessed for an automobile in Sangamon County(Springfield) for the years 1959 through 1965; that the employee's actions in giving the different addresses in official places was done for the purpose of evading payment of personal tax on the motor vehicle, and that the acts are prejudicial to the city service.

The Commission made the following specific findings:

'13.That the evidence establishes that respondent filed applications for automobile licenses with the Auto Registration Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Illinois for the years 1963, 1964 and 1965 on which he stated that his address was Greenview, Illinois; that on applications for ballots for elections held in the City of Springfield during the year 1964he stated his address was 720 Fayette Avenue, Springfield, Illinois; that for said years his automobiles were not assessed for personal property tax in Menard County, Illinois, and he paid no personal property tax for an automobile either in Sangamon County or Menard County, Illinois.'

'14.That the respondent designed such plans for the purpose of evading the payment of personal property tax on automobiles which he owned.'

'15.That had the respondent listed and had his automobiles assessed in the taxing district in which he residing in Springfield, Illinois, as required by the provisions of Section 538, Chapter 120, Illinois Revised Statutes, the City of Springfield, Illinois, his employer would have received a tax on said automobile for the year 1964 in the amount of $14.07 or $11.81 depending upon whether the 1963 Pontiac automobile was a Bonneville or Catalina model, and for the year 1965 the City of Springfield, Illinois would have received a tax of $12.20 or $10.36 depending upon the model of Pontiac automobile which the respondent owned; that this loss of actual tax revenue to the City of Springfield was established by the testimony of Virginia Rankin,...