People ex rel. Rea v. Cairo, V.&C. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 04 February 1910
• Citation: 90 N.E. 730,243 Ill. 217
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Parties: PEOPLE ex rel. REA, County Treasurer, v. CAIRO, V. & C. RY. CO. et al.

243 Ill. 217

90 N.E. 730

PEOPLE ex rel. REA, County Treasurer,

v.CAIRO, V. & C. RY. CO. et al.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Dec. 22, 1909.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 4, 1910.

Appeal from Montgomery County Court; John L. Dryer, Judge.

The People on the relation of John W. Rea, County Treasurer, applied for judgment for unpaid taxes against the property of the Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railway Company and others. Judgment granted, and defendants appeal. Reversed in part and remanded.

George B. Gillespie (L. J. Hackney, Hamlin, Gillespie & Fitzgerald, and D. R. Kinder, of counsel), for appellants.

W. H. Stead, Atty. Gen., and H. C. Stuttle, State's Atty. (L. V. Hill and J. T. Bullington, of counsel), for appellee.

DUNN, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment against the property of appellants for unpaid taxes.

The levy for county purposes amounted to $57,500, divided into items, four of which are as follows: Election and jurors account, $3,000; public buildings account, $3,500; jail and prisoners account, $3,000; county jail fund account, $12,500. These items were objected to because they do not state separately the amount levied for each purpose, as required by section 121, c. 120, Hurd's Rev. St. 1908. The object of this requirement is to furnish the taxpayer information as to the purpose for which the tax is levied, so as to enable him to prevent the collection of a tax for an illegal purpose, and to require its application, when collected, to the purpose for which it is levied. The item for ‘election and jurors account’ is for two entirely separate purposes, and does not comply with the requirement of the statute. The same is true of ‘jail and prisoners account.’ ‘Public buildings account’ and ‘county jail fund account’ do not indicate the purpose for which the respective sums are levied with sufficient particularity. It is wholly uncertain whether such sums are to be used in the erection or repair of buildings, and, if so, what buildings, or in other expenses connected with them. It is wholly uncertain whether the jail fund is for the erection or repair of a jail, the expense of its maintenance, or the payment of a debt. These last three items overlap, each covering part of the purposes mentioned in the other two. Each item should state the purpose with such particularity that the taxpayer may know what expenditure that item was intended to cover. People v. Kankakee & Southwestern Railroad Co., 231 Ill. 109, 83 N. E. 115;People v. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co., 231 Ill. 209, 83 N. E. 111;People v. Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railway Co., 237 Ill. 312, 86 N. E. 721;People v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 237 Ill. 324, 86 N. E. 724. The objections to these items should have been sustained.

The appellants offered in evidence the resolution of the county board levying the tax, and it is contended that it was not properly received, because the witness who identified it was not shown to be the county clerk. The witness testified only that he was clerk of the county court and that the resolution was his only authority for levying the tax. The clerk of the county court can be no other than the county clerk. While there are two offices, there is...