Oregon & C.R. Co. v. Jackson County

• Decision Date: 25 March 1901
• Citation: 64 P. 307,38 Or. 589
• Parties: OREGON & C.R. CO. et al. v. JACKSON COUNTY et al.
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

64 P. 307

38 Or. 589

OREGON & C.R. CO. et al. v. JACKSON COUNTY et al.

Supreme Court of Oregon

March 25, 1901

Appeal from circuit court, Jackson county; H.K. Hanna, Judge.

Bill by the Oregon & California Railroad Company and another against Jackson county, Or., and another. From a decree in favor of complainants, defendants appeal. Decree modified and affirmed.

This is a suit to enjoin the collection of certain taxes attempted to be levied upon the roadbed and certain lands described in the land grant of the Oregon & California Railroad Company. The complaint, omitting some allegations of a formal nature states, in substance: That at the general election of 1894 G.A. Jackson was elected assessor of Jackson county, and at the following general election was elected clerk thereof. That he continued in the discharge of his duties as assessor until the first Monday in July, when he resigned to enter upon his duties as clerk, and upon his qualification became a member of the board of equalization for said county. That Henry Klippel was appointed assessor in his stead, and W.S Crowell, having been elected county judge in June, 1896, also became members of the said board of equalization. "That the said G.A. Jackson, claiming to act as assessor of said county, and intending to wrong, defraud, and oppress the plaintiffs, and intending to discriminate against the plaintiffs in the assessment of their said property, and disregarding the laws of the state in that behalf, undertook to assess the property of plaintiff the Oregon & California Railroad Company for said year 1896, and did under his hand and after he was elected as county clerk aforesaid, and in anticipation of his proposed resignation as county assessor and on the 27th day of June, 1896, make a certificate and pretended assessment of all the property owned by the Oregon & California Railroad Company in said Jackson county, Or for the year 1896, and then and thereby pretended to complete the assessment of the said company, and extend the same on the assessment roll of said county," a copy of which is set out, by which it appears that the said company was assessed upon 371,044.12 acres of congressional lands, valued at $348,661; 97,794.56 acres of indemnity lands, valued at $172,248; 12,504.05 acres of contract lands, at $39,019; and 65.28 miles of "roadbed and franchise," at $10,000 per mile,--aggregating $652,800. That, pursuant to notice, the board of equalization convened at the court house at Jacksonville, in said county, October 5th, and continued in session to and inclusive of October 10, 1896. That, deeming the valuation of said property excessive, unjust, unusual, and illegal, the said Oregon & California Railroad Company filed a verified petition with the said board, requesting a reduction of the assessment of its roadbed to $3,500 per mile, and of its congressional and indemnity lands to 35 cents per acre, which was denied. After some allegations touching the equalization and the levy of taxes by the county court, the complaint further states: That a warrant was duly issued and delivered to the sheriff, together with a transcript of the assessment roll, commanding him to collect the taxes charged thereon. That on March 30, 1897, and before the taxes claimed became delinquent, the company paid the sheriff all the state, county, school, and municipal taxes levied upon the assessed valuation of its rolling stock, depots, depot grounds, improvements, and contract lands, and at the same time tendered to the sheriff, thereby intending to pay upon a fair valuation of its roadbed, congressional and indemnity lands within said county, the sum of $9,036.13, which he accepted. That said sum paid the taxes upon the company's roadbed within Jackson county at the rate of $3,500 per mile, and upon 371,044 acres of congressional and 97,794 acres of indemnity lands at the average rate of 35 cents per acre. That on or about the _____ day of April, 1897, the sheriff made his return of the said warrant, and pretended to return as delinquent all the property of the Oregon & California Railroad Company assessed to it for the year 1896. That thereafter the county clerk of Jackson county, pretending to be acting under the authority of the county court, issued and delivered to the sheriff a warrant commanding him to levy upon the goods and chattels of the plaintiff the Oregon & California Railroad Company, or, if none be found, then upon the real property of said company, or so much thereof as shall satisfy the taxes so charged, which warrant is regular in form, and appears to be valid upon its face, and commands the sheriff to make out of the property of the plaintiffs the sum of $18,151.58, being the balance of the said pretended taxes against the railroad company after deducting the amount paid as previously alleged and the said sheriff threatens to, and will, unless restrained, levy upon and seize the rolling stock and railroad track, as well as the lands assessed to said company. That the said county of Jackson claims a lien upon every parcel of real property so assessed for the whole of said $18,151.58, and the right to enforce and collect the same by a sale of any and all of said rolling stock and lands. That said pretended claim and the sale of real property so threatened, if consummated, will cause and create a cloud upon the same and upon the title thereof. That the said rolling stock is in active use by plaintiff the Southern Pacific Company in the operation of said railroad, and that the levy thereon, or any part thereof, by the sheriff, will cause the plaintiffs irreparable damage and injury, and will interfere with the said company as a common carrier of interstate commerce and the United States mails, and in otherwise discharging its public duties. That the said assessment of congressional and indemnity lands and the so-called 65.28 miles of roadbed and franchise at the respective amounts named was and is void, illegal, excessive, and fraudulent, and was so made by the county assessor, and so approved by said board of equalization, in disregard of the rights of the plaintiffs, and the valuations fixed thereon were so placed arbitrarily and in disregard of the laws of the state. That they were and are excessive, and were so made purposely, through prejudice against these plaintiffs as railroad companies, and for the purpose of fulfilling and carrying out certain pledges which the said assessor made to certain persons and parties in the county of Jackson, to whom he pretended to be and was indebted for his election as assessor and clerk. That said assessor adopted a uniform and arbitrary rule, whereby he undertook to assess all realproperty other than that of the plaintiffs in said county at one-third of its actual cash value, but undertook to assess the real estate and property of the plaintiffs at an arbitrary and excessive value. That in estimating said value he classified the said property as railroad property, and valued the same with reference to its uses and ownership, and fixed such valuation according to a pretended assessment of the roadbed of the Oregon & California Railroad Company in the state of California, disregarding the valuation placed upon railroad property of the kind in other counties in the state of Oregon; and that, in pursuance of his purpose, he arbitrarily classified said property and attempted to assess the same more than 100 per cent. higher that any other roadbed of any railroad in any other county in the state of Oregon. That in attempting to assess the lands of the plaintiff the Oregon & California Railroad Company he denominated them congressional and indemnity lands, and valued the same according to such classification, without regard to the real value of each tract or parcel thereof. That the said assessor did not exercise any judgment or discretion in attempting to fix the valuation upon such lands, or any part thereof, or view, or cause the same to be viewed, so as to enable him to exercise his judgment in respect thereof; but that, intending to wrong and oppress the plaintiffs, and to carry out certain pledges and promises he had made to certain citizens and voters of said Jackson county to procure his election to the office of county clerk, he arbitrarily and in reckless disregard of his duty as assessor placed valuations upon so-called congressional and indemnity lands as the same now appears upon said roll, which said valuations are excessive and disproportionate to those placed upon property other than plaintiffs', and that 35 cents per acre is the fair and full value thereof. That at the time and place when and where said county board of equalization for Jackson county convened and was in session the said W.S. Crowell, acting as county judge, had full notice and knowledge of the said manner in which the assessor attempted and pretended to assess the property of the plaintiffs, and well knew that the said assessment so attempted to be made was fraudulent, excessive, arbitrary, and illegal, and was so made because of the prejudice of the assessor, and in order to carry out his aforesaid pledges. That, well knowing the same, he conspired and confederated with the assessor to perpetuate the same, and arbitrarily refused to award or render the plaintiffs any relief at the meeting of said board of equalization, or to reduce said excessive valuations; and he and said assessor conspired and confederated together, intending to wrong and defraud the plaintiffs, and, to carry out the so-called pledges made by said assessor as aforesaid, arbitrarily permitted said illegal and excessive assessment to stand; and that plaintiffs have no plain, adequate, or complete remedy at law. A demurrer was interposed to this complaint, and, after due consideration,...