People ex rel. Manifold v. Chicago, B.&Q.R. Co.

• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: GUNN
• Citation: People ex rel. Manifold v. Chicago, B.&Q.R. Co., 386 Ill. 56, 54 N.E.2d 389 (Ill. 1944)
• Decision Date: 21 March 1944
• Docket Number: No. 27834.,27834.
• Parties: PEOPLE ex rel. MANIFOLD, County Collector, v. CHICAGO, B. & Q. R. CO.

386 Ill. 56

54 N.E.2d 389

PEOPLE ex rel. MANIFOLD, County Collector,

v.CHICAGO, B. & Q. R. CO.

No. 27834.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 21, 1944.

Proceeding by the People, on the relation of A. R. Manifold, County Collector, against Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company involving the validity of certain school taxes. From a judgment sustaining objections to the taxes and ordering County Treasurer to return to railroad company the amount thereof paid under protest, relator appeals.

Judgment reversed, and cause remanded, with directions.Appeal from Hancock County Court; J. Arthur Baird, Judge.

Samuel Joseph Naylor, State's Atty., of Carthage, for appellant.

Edward C. Mack, of Carthage, and C. W. Krohl, of Chicago (Eldon M. Martin, of Chicago, of counsel), for appellee.

GUNN, Justice.

The county treasurer and collector of Hancock county made application for judgment against real property returned delinquent for the taxes of 1941 and prior years. The appellee, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company, paid certain taxes under protest and filed objections to the validity of the school taxes in Districts No. 37, No. 118, and No. 177 of said county. Upon a hearing, the county judge entered an order sustaining such objections and ordered the county treasurer to return to appellee all of the amounts thereof paid under protest.

The objections to the taxes for Districts No. 37 and No. 177 were sustained because it appeared the budgets made by the districts were adopted after the dates of the levies. In District No. 37 the certificate of levy is dated June 30, 1941, and filed August 12, 1941, and the budget was adopted July 28, 1941. In District No. 177 the certificate of levy is dated June 17, 1941, was filed with the county clerk August 12, 1941, and the budget adopted July 18, 1941. The objection to the taxes in District No. 118 was that when an increase was made in the statutory rate under an election held in 1928 the form of the ballot used was improper, and therefore the election raising the rate invalid. This objection was sustained by the county court.

The controversy involving the first two items grows out of the construction of the Illinois Municipal Budget Law of 1937. Laws of 1937, page 1037, Ill.Rev.Stat. 1937, c. 120, § 365.1 et seq. Under that statute municipalities and political subdivisions were required to adopt a budget within the first quarter of the fiscal year. Counties, cities, villages and incorporated towns and sanitary districts, and the taxing bodies of Cook county, which was of more than 500,000 population, were excepted from the act. The apparently left school districts with a population of less than 500,000 under the operation of the act.

In 1939 the statute was amended, Ill.Rev.Stat. 1939, c. 120, § 365.3 et seq., and section 3a added, which provided school districts governed by a board of directors should not be required to comply with the budget provisions if the board should post notices of its claim for State aid, in accordance with certain requirements of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The act, as amended in 1939, contains the following provisions: ‘Sec. 4. The failure by any governing body of any municipality to adopt an annual budget and appropriation ordinance, or to comply in any respect with the provisions of this Act, shall not affect the validity of any tax levy of any such municipality, otherwise in conformity with the law. The failure by the board of directors of any school district governed by a board of directors to comply with the provisions of Section 3 of this Act shall not affect the authority of such board of directors or school district to make expenditures.’ Laws of 1939, page 876.

In 1943 the statute was again amended and also excepted from the operation of the act ‘school districts governed by boards of school directors,’ section 3a of the act of 1939 was repealed, and section 4 restored to its original form, as contained in the Laws of 1937, the same being the first sentence only of section 4, as quoted above. Laws of 1943, page 1061, Ill.Rev.Stat.1943, c. 120, § 365.1 et seq.

The statute as enacted in 1939 is applicable to the present controversy. The act required the governing body of any municipality coming within its provisions during or before the first quarter of each fiscal year to adopt a combined annual budget and appropriation ordinance by which ordinance it shall appropriate such sums of money as may be deemed necessary to defray all necessary expenses and liabilities, and shall specify the objects and purposes for which said appropriations are made, and the amount appropriated for such object or purpose. It also requires a statement of its actual assets, and the estimate of cash expected to be received during the fiscal year, and the estimate of the expenditures for the same year. It is required to be published or posted, and prohibits any further appropriations at any other time during the fiscal year, except as provided by law, but permits the municipality from time to time to make transfers between the various appropriations not exceeding in the aggregate ten per cent of the amount of each appropriation, and may amend the budget, provided it is done in the same manner as required in the first instance. It also contains a provision that the Tax Commission shall furnish certain forms and collect copies of the several budgets with respect to each municipality in the State, and to publish annually a statistical summary, and also to give advice to the officers of such municipalities with respect to their budget procedure; but, however, such Tax Commission is not permitted to interfere with such municipalities or their officials in the enforcement of the Budget Law.

The act also requires such municipalities to fix the fiscal year. There is only one requirement in the statute wherein the budget is to be adopted prior to the tax levy, and that is where the beginning of the fiscal year is subsequent to the time of the tax levy for that year. Under the statute the fiscal year of a school district is from July 1 to June 30, Ill.Rev.Stat.1943, chap. 122, pars. 36 and 212, unless otherwise fixed by the municipality. It does not not appear in the record that any other fiscal year has been fixed. Aside from this one instance the requirement of filing a budget is that it shall be within or before the first quarter of each fiscal year. There is no condition precedent contained in the law that the budget shall be adopted prior to the tax levy, except in the one instance above pointed out.

It seems rather apparent that the legislature desired conformity in the manner of budgeting expenses throughout the State, and the publication of information that would require municipalities to use...