Oates v. Whitehead

• Decision Date: 13 June 1911
• Citation: Oates v. Whitehead, 173 Ala. 209, 55 So. 803 (Ala. 1911)
• Parties: OATES v. WHITEHEAD, TAX COLLECTOR.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

55 So. 803

173 Ala. 209

OATES v. WHITEHEAD, TAX COLLECTOR.

Supreme Court of Alabama

June 13, 1911

Appeal from Chancery Court, Henry County; L. D. Gardner, Chancellor.

Bill by W. S. Oates against W. J. Whitehead, as Tax Collector, for injunction.Decree sustaining demurrer to the bill, and complainant appeals.Affirmed.

The bill alleges proper residence and age of the complainant that Whitehead is over the age of 21, is a resident of Henry county, and tax collector of said county, together with his duty as to the collection of taxes; that complainant is a taxpayer, and as such taxpayer he listed his property for taxation with the tax assessor of Henry county, Ala., giving the date, and attaching the assessment as an exhibit of the bill, showing that the total amount of his real estate was $27,900, and his personal property, $440; that the tax rate for both state and county taxes for that year was $1.40 per $100, and that his total tax, state and county, amounted to the sum of $397.26.He then avers his readiness and willingness, on the day the tax became due and since that time, to pay said amount to the tax collector, but that the tax collector refuses and declines to accept said sum in full payment of the taxes, but is demanding and is required by his records to demand and collect of the complainant the sum of $587.81, which complainant refuses to pay, as not being due.It is then averred that legal steps have been or are about to be taken to enforce the collection of the last-named amount as the amount due by complainant for taxes.It is then averred that the State Tax Commission of Alabama met with the board of county commissioners of Henry county, on the 5th day of February, 1910, and then and there raised or reassessed complainant's real estate, not embracing his city property, to the sum of $41,500, or an additional sum of $13,710 to that assessed by complainant, and that said board set aside and held for naught the assessment made by the tax assessor, and ordered said assessor to enter upon the tax assessment books of Henry county the assessment as there made by them, which order is attached to the bill and marked "Exhibit B."It is then averred that the complainant had no legal notice of the meeting of said tax collectors, and was not present at their meeting.It is further averred that no notice was given them as required by section 2228,Code 1907, before the assessment was made by said tax collector and entry of record thereof made; that no time was set apart for hearing objections to said reassessment or revaluation, nor personal notice given, and no notice mailed to complainant, or left at his dwelling describing the...