Holt v. City of Birmingham

Citation19 So. 735,111 Ala. 369
PartiesHOLT v. MAYOR, ETC., OF BIRMINGHAM.
Decision Date09 April 1896
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama

Appeal from criminal court, Jefferson county; Samuel E. Greene Judge.

Complaint by the mayor and aldermen of the city of Birmingham against T. H. Holt for violation of a city ordinance (Code of City Ordinances, § 323), by engaging in business without a license. From a judgment of conviction, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Weaver & McMaster, for appellant.

Richard V. Evans, for appellees.

COLEMAN J.

The defendant was convicted, and fined $20, for the violation of a city ordinance, from which he prosecutes this appeal. The city imposed a license tax upon occupations and business carried on within its limits, and upon persons keeping "marble yards" the license tax was $20. The city ordinance reads as follows: "Any person who shall engage in any business for which a license is required, before having paid for and taken out such license, shall upon conviction be fined," etc. The charter confers upon the city ample authority to tax business and avocations, and to impose penalties for failing to take out a license. The license tax and the ordinance are within the authority conferred by the legislature. The contention of the defendant is that the legislature exceeded its constitutional authority in conferring the power upon the city, and that the city charter in this respect is null and void. The argument is based upon the following constitutional provision (article 4 § 50): "The general assembly shall not have power to authorize any municipal corporation to pass any laws inconsistent with the general laws of the state." The general law relied upon was adopted February 18, 1887, and reads as follows: "Sec. 499. Cities and Towns may Adopt Provisions of This Chapter. Any incorporated city or town in this state may, by an ordinance, adopt the provisions of this chapter regulating the assessment and collection of taxes by such city officers or agents, so far as the same may be applicable, and shall have the same right to sell property and make titles to property sold for taxes as is provided for collecting state and county taxes; but any such city or town must first, by ordinance, adopt such parts of this chapter for said purposes, as they desire to put in force; but no city (except Mobile, Montgomery, Marion, Brewton, Cullman and Selma), or town, or county shall assess, levy or collect any license tax on any business or occupation upon which the state does not assess, levy or collect such license tax. Nothing herein contained shall affect the provisions of the act for the reduction and funding of the debt of the city of Mobile, approved March 9th, 1875. The city council of Opelika may assess, levy and collect a license tax on banks or bankers, the keepers of livery stables, of meat markets, and those engaged in the business of running drays and hacks for hire." This act was amended December 8, 1888 (Acts 1888-89, p. 11), as follows: "Be it enacted by the general assembly of Alabama, that an act entitled 'An act to amend section 499 of the Code of Alabama,' approved Feb. 18, 1887, be amended so as to read as follows, to wit: 'Sec. 499. Cities and Towns may Adopt Provisions of This Chapter. Any incorporated city or town in this state may, by an ordinance, adopt the provisions of this chapter regulating the assessment and collection of taxes by such city officers or agents, so far as the same may be applicable, and shall have the same right to sell property, and make titles to property sold for taxes, as is provided for collecting state and county taxes; but any such city or town must first, by ordinance, adopt such parts of this chapter, for said purposes, as they desire to put in force; but no city (except Mobile, Montgomery, Marion, Brewton, Cullman, Selma, Eufaula, Russellville, Tuskegee and Uniontown), or town, or county shall assess, levy or collect any license tax on any business or occupation upon which the state does not assess, levy or collect such license tax. Nothing herein contained shall affect the provisions of the act for the reduction and funding of the debt of the city of Mobile, approved March 9th, 1875. The city council of Opelika may assess, levy and collect a license tax on banks or bankers, the keepers of livery stables, of meat markets, and those engaged in the business of running drays and hacks for hire." The act has been further amended by excepting other cities and towns, until now there is quite a number of...

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28 cases
  • State v. Clements, 3 Div. 915.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • January 28, 1930
    ......10, 17;. Sasser v. Martin, 101 Ga. 447, 29 S.E. 278;. Conner v. Mayor, etc., of City of New York, 5 N. Y. . 285; Phillips v. City of N. Y., 1 Hilt. (N. Y.) 483,. 489; 6 Words and ... public, though not a general law within the meaning of the. Constitution. Holt v. City of Birmingham, 111 Ala. 369, 373, 19 So. 735; Wallace v. Board of Revenue, . 140 Ala. ......
  • Coyle v. Smith
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Oklahoma
    • February 9, 1911
    ...people of the state, not to the citizens of the counties where they are located." ¶21 See, also, Holt v. Mayor & Aldermen of Birmingham, 111 Ala. 369, 19 So. 735; City of Pond Creek v. Haskell, 21 Okla. 711, 97 P. 338; Anderson v. Ritterbusch, 22 Okla. 761, 98 P. 1002. ¶22 If said act be a ......
  • State v. Town of Springville
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • December 19, 1929
    ...... of all misdemeanors committed within the city or town. By. section 1946, when the recorder tries a misdemeanor under a. state law the limits of ... courts in many cases. State ex rel. Birmingham v. Fort, 164 Ala. 578, 51 So. 317; Thomas v. State, 13 Ala. App. 421, 69 So. 413, 416; McKinstry. ... of the state. Mayor of Huntsville v. Phelps, 27 Ala. 55; Holt v. City of Birmingham, 111 Ala. 369, 19 So. 735; Cooley Const. Lim., 240, 242. . . ......
  • Ward v. State
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • January 28, 1932
    ......417] . . Cabaniss. & Johnston, Herbert J. Ward, and R. B. Evins, all of. Birmingham, for appellant. . . Thomas. J. Judge, of Birmingham, for appellee. . . ... act approved July 17, 1931, purporting to establish "an. inferior court in each city of the State of Alabama now or. hereafter having, according to the last or any subsequent. ... general law, though not one in good faith. And, as said in. Holt v. City of Birmingham, 111 Ala. 369, 19 So. 735, 736, "The effect of a statute, more than its. ......
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