McClain v. Board of Ed. of Spencer County

• Decision Date: 18 February 1955
• Citation: 275 S.W.2d 795
• Parties: W. W. McCLAIN, Sheriff of Spencer County, Kentucky, Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SPENCER COUNTY, Kentucky, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 795

275 S.W.2d 795

W. W. McCLAIN, Sheriff of Spencer County, Kentucky, Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SPENCER COUNTY, Kentucky, Appellee.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Feb. 18, 1955.

T. C. Carroll, Shepherdsville, for appellant.

Dailey & Fowler, Frankfort, for appellee.

CAMMACK, Justice.

The Spencer County Board of Education filed this action against W. W. McClain, as Sheriff of Spencer County, seeking a declaration of rights and to recover the sum of $996.57. McClain had retained three per cent of the school taxes collected for the fiscal year 1952-1953 as his fee for collecting them and the Board claimed he was entitled to no more than two per cent. The amount sought by the Board is the difference between two per cent and three per cent of the school taxes.

McClain counterclaimed against the Board, contending that the sums of $1,971.46, $1,939.68 and $966.77 were due him as commissions for school taxes collected during the fiscal years 1950-1951, 1951-1952 and 1952-1953. The lower court held that McClain was entitled to recover $242.64 for $1950-1951, $148.02 for 1951-1952 and that for the year 1952-1953 the Board was entitled to $548.91, leaving a balance due the Board of $158.25.

The sheriff is urging on his appeal that (1) the minimum salary base used by the court in computing expenses of his office should have been $5,000 instead of $3,300; (2) the bookkeeper's salary for the years in question should have been allowed in full as a tax expense; and (3) he was entitled to an allowance for automobile expenses incurred in collecting school taxes.

On its cross-appeal the Board is contending that settlement agreements entered into by it with McClain under which he was paid two per cent for collecting school taxes in 1950-1951 and 1951-1952 were valid and binding, and also that the reasonable cost of those taxes did not exceed two per cent for either year. The Board argues also that the actual compensation received by the sheriff should be used in computing expenses of collecting school taxes and not the value of his services.

We have held that the reasonable value of the sheriff's services and not the amount of money received by him in the form of compensation should be used in computing the cost of collecting school taxes. We have said also that in fixing a standard for measuring the value of the services of the sheriff, a number of factors must be taken into consideration. Some of the factors are the responsibilities of the office, the duties imposed upon the sheriff and the practical consideration that compensation should be high enough to attract competent men to the office. The amount of compensation must also be controlled to some extent by local conditions and limited in some degree by local standards of compensation. See Board of Education of Lawrence County v. Workman, Ky., 256 S.W.2d 528, and Wells v. Board of Education of Menifee County, Ky., 244 S.W.2d 160.

While there is very little evidence in this case relative to the value of the sheriff's services for a given year, it appears to us from the record that a figure of $5,000 would not be...