People ex rel. Butchers' H.&M. Ass'n v. Asten
| Decision Date | 08 December 1885 |
| Citation | 3 N.E. 788,100 N.Y. 597 |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | PEOPLE ex rel. BUTCHERS' H. & M. ASS'N v. ASTEN and others, Com'rs. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Louis C. Woehner, for the Poeple.
D. J. Dean, for respondents, Thomas B. Asten and oters, Com'rs, etc.
The relator's capital stock fixed at the sum of $200,000, and by the return of the company made to the assessors it was shown that the whole of that amount was invested in real estate. It appears from the record that the commissioners arrived at the amount of the capital stock to be taxed, in the following manner: They took from the whole of the capital stock, $200,000, the sum of $100,000, the assessed value of the real estate, and $36,500, the value of stocks held in other companies, leaving a balance of $63,500, on which the assessment was made. It is also shown that the real estate was subject to a mortgage of $80,000. It is insisted by the relator that the commissioners of taxes erred in two particulars, namely: First, that the deduction for real estate should be the amount paid therefor, viz., $200,000, instead of the assessed value thereof, $100,000; second, that the commissioners should have deducted from the value of the capital stock, as ascertained by them, the further sum of $80,000, which the relators owe upon bond and mortgage, which is a lien upon their real estate.
The assessment was, no doubt, intended to have been made in conformity with the provisions of section 3, c. 456, Laws 1857, which are as follows:
‘The capital stock of every corporation liable to taxation, except such part of it as shall have been excepted in the assessment roll, or shall have been exempted by law, together with its surplus profits or reserved fund exceeding ten per cent. of its capital, after deducting the assessed value of its real estate, and all shares of stock in other corporations actually owned by such company, which are taxable upon its capital stock under the laws of this state, shall be assessed at its actual value, and taxed in the same manner as the other personal and real estate of the company.’
Under this statute the commissioners were required to ascertain and determine the actual value of the stock, and make the deduction as provided. This was done by placing an estimate on the capital stock at its par value. The commissioners did this in the performance of their judicial duty, which conferred upon them authority to act in accordance with their own knowledge, and with such information as they were able to obtain, as to the real value of the stock, from sales in the market, or otherwise, and by ascertaining the value of the property which the stock represented, and by determining the dividend-earning power of the corporation. There is no evidence in the record before us which establishes that the value fixed by the commissioners was incorrect or unauthorized, and it does not appear unqualifiedly and beyond question...
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