Mebane Graded School Dist. v. Alamance County
| Decision Date | 24 February 1937 |
| Docket Number | 738. |
| Citation | 189 S.E. 873,211 N.C. 213 |
| Parties | MEBANE GRADED SCHOOL DIST. et al. v. ALAMANCE COUNTY et al. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Alamance County; Clawson L. Williams Judge.
Mandamus by Mebane Graded School District and the Town of Mebane against County of Alamance and the Board of Education of Alamance County; County of Orange and the Board of Education of Orange County. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendants appeal.
No error.
From a careful review of the record (containing some 268 pages), we think plaintiffs' statement of facts substantially correct:
"The Mebane District was created under authority of Chapter 165 Private Laws of 1903, and operated under the provisions of that Act and as amended by chapter 81, Private Laws of 1920, [Ex.Sess.] until the enactment of the Griffin Act by the General Assembly of 1933.
The Act of 1903, described the territory which constitutes the Mebane District, said District comprising territory lying in both Alamance and Orange Counties, and all the territory within the corporate limits of the Town of Mebane. The Act provided for a vote of the qualified voters of the District, and if a majority voted 'for graded schools' it should thereafter be the duty of the Board of Commissioners of the County of Orange and Alamance to levy, annually, a special tax of not less than 30¢ nor more than 33 1/3¢ on the $100.00 valuation of the taxable property of the District, and upon each poll not less than 90¢ nor more than $1.00; it provided further, that all funds derived from such district taxes and received for school purposes from the State and from the counties were to be used for the benefit of the graded schools of that district.
The Act further conferred upon the Board of Trustees, which was self-perpetuating, 'the power to establish and maintain such schools as they shall deem necessary.' Chapter 81 of the Private Laws of 1920 [Ex.Sess.] amended the original Act by providing for the issuance of bonds by said school district in an amount not to exceed $75,000, upon a majority vote of the qualified voters of the district. * * *
The school site in the Mebane District was donated to the District and the original school building was constructed by Mr. Stephen White, a citizen of the District. The population grew very rapidly, and by 1919, the school attendance had increased so much that it became necessary to provide additional school room, and the Trustees built a four-room frame structure for temporary use and also used three Sunday School rooms in the Baptist church, which was located on an adjoining lot. About 1920, an effort was made to raise some money to build a new building by obtaining $40,000 or $50,000 from the State Department of Education and by the issuance of bonds of the District in the amount of $25,000.
These plans did not materialize, and the Trustees then considered the construction of a new building but finally, in the interest of economy, decided to retain the old building and to build an addition to it at a cost of $75,000. To have constructed an entirely new building would have cost $100,000. This decision was reached prior to 1922.
At that time, in order to accommodate the school children of the District, use was being made of the four regular class rooms in the old building, which had been built by Mr. White, without cost to the District or to the County, and the auditorium on the second floor had been divided into four rooms by canvassed partitions; the four rooms in the temporary frame structure were in use and three rooms in the Baptist Church. At that time, the school buildings were not equipped with water and sewerage, and drinking water was obtained from a neighboring lot. The buildings were heated by stoves and the old building was 'a dangerous fire trap.'
Pursuant to the authority conferred by chapter 81 of the Private Laws of 1920 [Ex.Sess.], a bond election was held in the Mebane District with the result that the issuance of bonds was authorized. Mr. Chester Masslich, a New York Bond Attorney, was employed to supervise the election and the issuance of the bonds. A competent architect was employed to prepare the plans and when bids were received the lowest bids ran in excess of $80,000. Later, the Board of Trustees, by making certain changes in the plans, was able to get the lowest bidder to build the building within the amount of the bond issue, consisting of eleven class rooms on the first and second floors with an auditorium and an unfinished basement, the building being of standard brick construction. The new building was an addition to the old building, and in order to maintain the first floor level of the old building it was possible to provide space in the basement of the new building for five class rooms, but there was not money available to finish the basement rooms.
At that time the community was growing very rapidly, and it was believed that the additional space in the basement would be needed in the near future. All of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds were used in the construction of the building, but there was not enough money to pay for the building and its equipment. The auditorium curtain and stage setting were bought with money raised by the Parent-Teacher Association and donated to the School. Approximately $2,000 in addition to the proceeds of the bonds was raised from subscriptions and entertainment. No additional land was purchased. The Trustees borrowed, personally, about $4,000 from a local bank to build a teacherage.
The building was extremely plain with no ornaments whatsoever and all of the space utilized. For the school year 1922-23, the total enrollment in the school was 557; in 1923-24, 576; in 1925-26, 570; from 1926 to 1933, the enrollment was approximately 550, and for the year 1933-34, was 602, and for the year 1935-36, 697. Before the new building was erected no children were admitted to the schools who lived outside of the District, but after it was erected a few were admitted and these were charged tuition.
The contract price for the building was $72,000 including the heating plant, but excluding all equipment, the lighting and the excavation. The auditorium in the new building seats 750 people on the main floor and 280 in the balcony. It was frequently used to its capacity.
The bonds were sold for a small premium-approximately $1,000. Thereafter, each year the County Commissioners of Alamance and Orange Counties levied and are still levying a special tax of 12¢ on the $100 valuation to meet the debt service on the bond issue. The County of Alamance collected these taxes and the checks or vouchers stated the purpose of the levy by reciting 'To apply on bond issue $75,000 dated February 1, 1922.' Of the total bond issue, $57,000 is still outstanding-$2,000 of this amount being in default with interest due from February 1, 1934, and the interest is due on the remaining $55,000 from February 1, 1936 (the findings of fact made by the Court).
Beginning with the year 1933, the special tax in the Mebane District for school maintenance was abandoned, as required by the Griffin Act, but the Counties of Alamance and Orange continued to levy the 12¢ tax for debt service. The Mebane District received no financial contribution from the Counties of Alamance or Orange for debt service purposes prior to 1927, but beginning with 1927, and continuing to the present time it has received its per capita allotment of the county-wide tax levied for school debt service. The County assumed all of the debts of the local school districts of Alamance County, whether they were represented by bonds or by loans made by the State Literary Fund or by loans made by the State Building Fund, and in each annual audit of the County made for the year 1932, and continuing through 1935, all of said indebtedness was shown as county indebtedness. Prior to 1932, there were a number of local tax districts in Alamance County in which a local tax was levied, but beginning with the fiscal year, July 1, 1933, all these local taxes were abandoned except in the special districts of Mebane and Burlington. Beginning with the year 1933, the records of the County show that all the debt service requirements of all the local tax districts in Alamance County, other than the four charter districts of Mebane, Burlington, Haw River and Graham, have been paid out of the County's general school fund, and that the special charter districts have, since said time, received the per capita allotment of the county-wide levy for debt service.
The County Commissioners prepared a refunding plan in 1933, in which the total indebtedness of the County and the indebtedness of each incorporated town in the County is shown and in which it was stated that the school district indebtedness assumed by the County amounted to $247,650.00. In 1932, the total special tax levy in the Mebane District was 41¢ and in that year there were 17 other special tax districts in which local levies were made. For the year 1932, the county-wide debt service tax rate was .172. The following year, 1933, (the first year under the Griffin Act), the county-wide school debt service tax was .205, and in that year no levy was made in any of the other 17 special school tax districts except Burlington and Mebane and all debt service requirements of all other districts of the County were paid out of the county-wide debt service levy; and that practice has been followed thereafter.
On July 3, 1933, the County Board of Education of Alamance County, by resolution regularly adopted and recorded in its minutes endorsed and transmitted to the Board of County Commissioners its approval of the proposal of the Board of Trustees of the Mebane School District to...
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