Dickson, Sheriff, v. Jeff. Co. Bd. of Education
| Decision Date | 31 January 1950 |
| Citation | 311 Ky. 781 |
| Parties | Dickson, Sheriff, et al. v. Jefferson County Board Of Education et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
The Court of Appeals, by Cammack, J., affirmed on both appeal and cross-appeal, holding that a reasonable charge would be valid but that the additional three per cent was an invalid diversion.
1. Officers; Taxation. — Any payment exacted by the state or its municipal subdivisions as a contribution toward the cost of maintaining governmental functions, where special benefits derived from their performance are merged in general benefit, is a "tax," while a "fee" is generally regarded as a charge for some particular service.
2. Counties. — Legislature has power to impose fees for official duties performed by county officers and to direct that fees be paid into state treasury. Const. sec. 106.
3. Schools and School Districts. — Making a reasonable charge against local school tax for its collection does not violate constitutional provisions against diverting taxes or school funds. Const. secs 180, 184.
4. Schools and School Districts. — The statute providing four per cent fee for collection of school taxes violates constitutional provisions against diverting taxes or school funds, where fee of one per cent would be sufficient and additional three per cent would create excess of more than $50,000 annually. KRS 160.500; Const. secs. 180, 184.
Samuel Steinfeld, Andrew Hyman, and Hal Williams, Assistant Attorney General, for appellants.
Henry M. Johnson, Lucian L. Johnson, and Johnson & Johnson for appellees.
Before Lawrence F. Speckman, Judge.
Affirming.
In 1946 the first paragraph of KRS 160.500 was amended so as to allow the tax collector a fee of four percent for collecting local school taxes instead of one percent. The sentence containing the amendment follows:
"The tax collector shall be entitled to a fee at the rate of four percent for the collection of school taxes, which fee may be charged only for collecting or receiving school taxes or school funds received from the local school levy." No change was made in the second paragraph of KRS 160.500 which provides that a special tax collector in an independent school district may be allowed a fee for collecting local school taxes of not less than one percent nor more than four percent.
In the case of Weber v. True, 304 Ky. 681, 202 S. W. 2d 174, we held that the 1946 amendment was not applicable to sheriffs of counties containing a population of less than 75,000 who were elected prior to the effective date of the Act, and also that the amendment would not be applicable to them as special tax collectors after their terms as sheriff expired.
This case involves the applicability of the 1946 amendment to sheriffs in counties having a population of more than 75,000. Specifically, the question relates to the fee collected by the Sheriff of Jefferson County for collecting the Jefferson County school tax requested by the Jefferson County Board of Education and levied by the Fiscal Court of that County. The action was instituted by the Board of Education wherein it charged originally that the additional three percent allowed the Sheriff for collecting the local school taxes constituted a diversion of school funds in contravention of sections 180 and 184 of the Constitution, and therefore was void. This appeal is from a judgment upholding the contention of the appellees.
The constitutional background of the controversy can be better understood by a reading of the applicable parts of the following three sections of our Constitution:
The first sentence of Section 184 establishes the Common School Fund. The second sentence provides:
"The interest and dividends of said fund, together with any sum which may be produced by taxation or otherwise for purposes of common school education, shall be appropriated to the common schools, and to no other purpose." Section 106 provides:
According to the pleadings and the proof, a fee of one percent is amply sufficient to cover the costs of collecting the local school tax, and the additional three percent will amount to an excess of between $50,000 and $60,000 per year.
In 1920, Laws 1920, c. 36, the General Assembly reduced the commission allowed for the collection of school taxes from four percent to one percent and provided that this charge should be made against the local school levy. In the case of Ross, Sheriff, v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, 196 Ky. 366, 244 S.W. 793, it was held that, since the salary of the Sheriff of Jefferson County was fixed by law in accordance with the provisions of Section 106 of the Constitution, the 1920 Act was not applicable to that officer because the Act in no way changed his compensation. In the case of Owen County Board of Education v. Kemper, Sheriff, 197 Ky. 407, 247 S.W. 25, it was held that the 1920 Act did not apply to the incumbent sheriff of the county because it would have the effect of reducing his compensation during his term of office. The 1920 Act was held inapplicable to sheriffs who had not reached the constitutional salary limit. In the Kemper case, however, the County was held bound for the deficit between four percent of the amount of all taxes collected and the amount chargeable to the local school fund under the 1920 Act.
Prior to the adoption of the 1920 Act and the decision in the Ross case, the gross amount produced by the local school levy was credited to the local school fund, the charge for the...
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