Embree v. Kansas City-Liberty Boulevard Road Dist.

• Decision Date: 02 April 1914
• Docket Number: No. 17,450.,17,450.
• Citation: 166 S.W. 282,257 Mo. 593
• Parties: EMBREE et al. v. KANSAS CITY-LIBERTY BOULEVARD ROAD DIST. et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

166 S.W. 282

257 Mo. 593

EMBREE et al. v. KANSAS CITY-LIBERTY BOULEVARD ROAD DIST. et al.

No. 17,450.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

April 2, 1914.

Rehearing Denied April 13, 1914.

1. EMINENT DOMAIN (§ 2)—CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS—SPECIAL TAXES FOR LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Special taxes for benefits, levied under Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, authorizing special road districts and special taxes to pay for road improvements, are not taxes but are merely compensation for the enhanced value of the land due to the improvements in roads, and no property is taken without compensation, within the prohibition of Const. art. 2, § 21.

2. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 290)—HIGHWAYS (§ 122) — DUE PROCESS OF LAW — SPECIAL TAXES.

Special taxes, levied under Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, providing for special road districts and special taxes for benefits for road improvements, do not deprive an owner of his property without due process of law merely because they are levied without notice, where they can only be collected by suit, in which the owner may set up all defenses.

3. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 290)—HIGHWAYS (§ 122) — DUE PROCESS OF LAW — SPECIAL TAXES.

Rev. St. 1909, § 10615, dividing special road districts into three beneficial zones, and assessing the lands in each zone at a different percentage, without notice to the property owners, is not invalid as depriving the owners of their property without due process of law, in violation of Const. art. 2, § 30, since the division of the road districts into zones and the fixing of the percentage of benefits in each are legislative acts which cannot be questioned on the ground of want of notice.

4. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 63)—DEPRIVATION OF PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW—SPECIAL TAXES.

The Legislature may delegate the authority to create benefit districts and determine the percentage of the benefits to be assessed for the construction of a local improvement to officers of public corporations, and, so long as they act within their legislative authority, their acts cannot be questioned because of want of notice to property owners before creating the districts and fixing the percentage of the benefits, in the absence of a statutory provision to the contrary.

5. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 290)—DUE PROCESS OF LAW—SPECIAL TAXES.

Rev. St. 1909, § 10615, providing for the division of special road districts into three beneficial zones and the assessment of the lands in each at a different percentage, without notice to the owners, does not deprive the owners of their property without due process of law, though the valuation of the lands is made by the board of commissioners in each of the zones, on which the percentage of benefits is based, where each owner within the district is afforded a hearing on the question of benefits in suits for the collection of the taxes.

6. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 208)—CLASS LEGISLATION.

A statute which embraces all persons and things that naturally belong to the same class and are similarly situated, and on whom it must operate uniformly and equally, is not invalid as class legislation.

7. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (§ 208)—CLASS LEGISLATION —ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL ROAD DISTRICTS.

Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, authorizing the establishment of special road districts and the levying of special taxes for benefits for road improvements, and authorizing taxation of real estate according to reasonable value, exclusive of buildings thereon, is not invalid as class legislation, though orchards, vineyards, and other such betterments added to the soil as improvements are taxed, since there is a clear distinction between such improvements and buildings.

8. HIGHWAYS (§ 95) — SPECIAL ROAD DISTRICTS —"INDEBTEDNESS"—LIMITATIONS.

The assessments authorized by Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, providing for the establishment of road districts and special taxes for benefits for road improvements, are not an indebtedness, within Const. art. 10, § 12, limiting the indebtedness which public corporations may incur.

9. HIGHWAYS (§ 95) — SPECIAL ROAD DISTRICTS —"INDEBTEDNESS"—LIMITATIONS.

The bonded indebtedness of a special road district created under Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, authorizing the creation of special road districts and the issuance of bonds for the cost of improvements on the landowners' voting in favor of bonds, is not an indebtedness, within Const. art. 10, § 12, limiting municipal indebtedness, because the bonds are simply evidences of an indebtedness payable by special taxes for benefits and are not obligations of the district.

10. HIGHWAYS (§ 90) — SPECIAL ROAD DISTRICTS —PUBLIC CORPORATIONS.

A road district created under Rev. St. 1909, §§ 10611-10625, providing for the organization of special road districts governed by a board of commissioners, in the first instance appointed by the county court, and thereafter elected by the landowners of the district, is a public corporation, and the commissioners appointed or elected are public officers, charged with the care and maintenance of public highways in the district.

Brown, J., dissenting.

In Banc. Appeal from Circuit Court, Clay County; Francis H. Trimble, Judge.

Action by W. S. Embree and others against the Kansas City-Liberty Boulevard Road District and others. From a judgment of dismissal, plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed.

The plaintiffs instituted this suit in the circuit court of Clay county against the defendants, to enjoin them from issuing $77,000 of bonds, the proceeds of which were to be used in the construction of public highways in the Kansas City-Liberty Boulevard road district, of Clay county, Mo. A trial was had which resulted in a judgment in favor of the defendants and a dismissal of the bill. After taking the proper preliminary steps therefor, the plaintiffs appealed the cause to this court.

The facts of the case are practically undisputed, and are as follows:

The Kansas City-Liberty Boulevard road district of Clay county is a special road district, organized and incorporated under article 7 of chapter 102, R. S. 1909, and the amendments thereto. There is no pretense but what the district was duly incorporated under the provisions of said article, but the contention is that the article is unconstitutional, null, and void under both the state and federal Constitutions. In order to intelligently understand the legal propositions here presented, it is necessary to briefly notice the provisions of said article 7.

The first section thereof, being 10611, R. S. 1909, provides that the county courts of the various counties of the state may divide them into road districts, and authorizes said courts to incorporate with the usual powers of corporations for public purposes, and each to be known as "____ road district of ____ county." Each district to embrace not less than 2,000 acres of contiguous lands, and may be commensurate with a township, but must be located wholly within the county in which it is organized.

Section 10612 provides: That when a petition signed by the owners of a majority of the acres of land within any district proposed to be organized, stating the name of the proposed district, giving the boundaries thereof, and the number of acres embraced, and stating the names of the owners of the land, and the number of acres owned by each, and praying for an origination of such public road district in accordance with the provisions of said article and filed in the office of the clerk of the county court 30 days before the first day of the next term thereof, the clerk shall give notice that the petition will be heard at the next term of the court, etc., which shall state the names of at least three of the petitioners and the boundaries of the proposed district, and notify all owners of the land in said district who may desire to oppose the formation thereof to appear on the first day of said term and file their written remonstrance thereto, etc., which shall specifically state their objections to said organization. That the court shall hear said remonstrance, and may make such changes in the boundaries of such district as the public good may require. That if, after such changes have been made, it appears to the court that the petition so filed still contains the names of the owners of a majority of the acres contained in the district, the court shall make a preliminary order establishing the district, and set out the boundaries thereof. If no remonstrance shall have been filed, the court shall determine whether the petition for the organization has been signed by the owners of a majority of the acres embraced within the proposed district, and, if so, shall establish the district with the boundaries given in the petition, or with the boundaries as may be set forth in the amended petition signed by the owners of a majority of the acres affected thereby; and said amended petition may be filed at any time before the preliminary order establishing the district is made, but the boundaries of the district shall not be changed so as to embrace any lands not described in the notice given by the clerk, unless the owner shall in writing consent thereto, etc.

Section 10613 provides that, after the district has been formed, the county court shall appoint three commissioners, possessing certain qualifications, to hold their office until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January thereafter; "and on said last date the landowners in the district shall elect three commissioners, one to hold office for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, and, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each year thereafter, they shall elect one commissioner for a period of three years," etc. Then follows provisions for filling vacancies on the commission, etc.

Section 10614 provides for the qualification of the commissioners, organization of the board, the election of officers, and the times and places for holding meetings, etc. The county treasurer is made treasurer of the road...