Dallas County L. I. Dist. No. 6 v. Unknown Heirs of Harris

• Decision Date: 30 April 1927
• Docket Number: (No. 9838.)
• Citation: 295 S.W. 293
• Parties: DALLAS COUNTY LEVEE IMPROVEMENT DIST. NO. 6 v. UNKNOWN HEIRS OF HARRIS.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

295 S.W. 293

DALLAS COUNTY LEVEE IMPROVEMENT DIST. NO. 6 v. UNKNOWN HEIRS OF HARRIS.

(No. 9838.)

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Dallas.

April 30, 1927.

Rehearing Denied May 23, 1927.

Appeal from District Court, Dallas County; Joel R. Bond, Judge.

Suit by the Dallas County Levee Improvement District No. 6 against the unknown heirs of Pack Harris, deceased. From part of a judgment sustaining a plea of limitation as to part of the cause of action, plaintiff appeals. Reversed, and judgment rendered for plaintiff.

K. Craig, Geo. A. Titterington, and H. B. Sanders, all of Dallas, for appellant.

G. O. Crisp, of Kaufman, for appellee.

VAUGHAN, J.

Appellant, a levee improvement district duly created, embracing part of Dallas, Rockwall, and Kaufman counties, instituted its suit to enforce collection of levee improvement district taxes, which had been regularly levied and assessed to pay interest on, and provide a sinking fund for the payment of, certain bonds theretofore regularly issued and sold. The suit was filed October 20, 1925, for taxes duly assessed for each of the years 1919 to 1924, inclusive. Taxes for each year sued for became delinquent on the 1st of February of the following year. Appellees' answer consisted of only a plea of two years' limitation as against the taxes for the years 1919 to 1923, inclusive. No other defense was offered.

Trial before the court without a jury resulted in judgment sustaining the plea of limitation and for taxes, penalties, and interest due for 1924, foreclosing the lien against 9 acres of the land involved. From the court's conclusions of fact, we find the following material facts to have been established:

That appellant is a corporation, duly incorporated as a levee improvement district, in manner and form as required by law; that the land described in appellant's petition is within the bounds of said district; that all proceedings required by law were properly had for the levy of taxes sued for against said property described in appellant's petition, to pay interest and provide a sinking fund to pay principal on the bonds issued in the following amounts, to wit: For the years 1919 and 1920 the sum of $4.50 on each $100 of assessed benefits; for the years 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924, the sum of $5.50 on each $100 of assessed benefits; and that the said benefits to each acre as above indicated were stated at $100 per acre; that bonds had been issued and sold to the amount of $290,000; that the estate of Pack Harris owes the amounts set out and claimed in appellant's petition for the years alleged therein.

The only question presented to us for review by this appeal is whether or not appellee's plea of limitation was properly sustained. The determination of this question rests with the effect to be given the attempt of the 35th Legislature to adopt by reference article 7662, Vernon's Sayles' Civil Statutes, 1914, now article 7298, R. C. S. 1925, which reads as follows:

"No delinquent taxpayer shall have the right to plead in any court or in any manner rely upon any statute of limitation by way of defense against the payment of any taxes due from him or her, either to the state, or any county, city or town."

Appellees contend that the reference to article 7662 in the Levee Improvement Act, known and referred to as the Laney Act (Acts 35th Leg. 4th Called Sess. c. 44, 1918), was an effort to amend said article, therefore inoperative as a part thereof by "adoption." Section 42 of said act, now article 8016, R. C. S....