Delaware, L. & W. R. Co. v. Luzerne County Com'rs
| Decision Date | 22 May 1914 |
| Docket Number | 137 |
| Citation | 91 A. 889,245 Pa. 515 |
| Parties | Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R.R. Co., Appellant, v. Luzerne County Commissioners |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Argued April 15, 1914
Appeal, No. 137, Jan. T. 1914, by plaintiff, from decree of C.P. Luzerne Co., Oct. T., 1913, No. 24, refusing an injunction in case of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company v. The County Commissioners, the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes for the County of Luzerne the Sub-Assessor of Plymouth Township, the Supervisors and the Tax Collector of the Same. Affirmed.
Bill in equity for an injunction. Before FULLER, P.J.
From the record it appeared that the plaintiff, the owner of certain tracts of coal land in the Township of Plymouth Luzerne County, filed a bill in equity complaining that the assessment and valuation upon its coal lands in said township was an unlawful, illegal and void assessment, and by reason of such illegality the taxing authorities and the tax collector ought not to be permitted to collect any taxes thereon for the reason that the subordinate assessor had no part whatsoever in making the assessment, and that the valuation per acre was not determined by a consideration of what the coal lands would separately and bona fide sell for, as required by law, but arrived at on a basis and blanket rate per foot acre, regardless of conditions which would render the coal available or nonavailable, and praying that an injunction be awarded, restraining the tax collector from collecting a tax based upon such illegal and void assessment, and that the assessment be declared illegal and void and stricken from the assessment book.
Other facts appear in the opinion of the Supreme Court.
The court on final hearing dismissed the bill. Plaintiff appealed.
Errors assigned were in dismissing exceptions to various findings of fact and law of the trial judge and the decree of the court.
Decree affirmed at cost of appellant.
Benjamin R. Jones, with him Andrew H. McClintock, F. W. Wheaton and D. R. Reese, for appellant.
William S. McLean, Jr., with him M. J. Mulhall, John T. Lenahan and William S. McLean, Sr., for appellees.
Before FELL, C.J., MESTREZAT, ELKIN, STEWART and MOSCHZISKER, JJ.
This bill was filed for the purpose of having the assessment upon which the special tax was levied, declared illegal and void, and to restrain the defendants from proceeding in any manner to collect the tax in question. Equity has power in a proper case to restrain the collection of a tax, but it is a power that should be cautiously exercised, because as a general rule there is an adequate remedy at law. Equity will only intervene in such a case where there is either want of power to tax or a disregard of imperative constitutional requirements: Banger's App., 109 Pa. 79; Gas Company v. Elk County, 168 Pa. 401. In the present case the taxing authorities had power to make the assessment and levy the special tax, and the irregularities complained of can all be corrected on appeal as provided by law, without the intervention of a court of equity. Under all the facts this court does not feel warranted in reversing the decree entered by the learned court below and declaring the assessment illegal and absolutely void. We base our conclusion on the ground that appellant has an adequate remedy at law and that this remedy should be pursued.
This decision must not be understood as an adjudication of the validity of the assessment, nor as an expression of approval of the method...
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