People of Puerto Rico v. Palo Seco Fruit Co., 3870.

• Decision Date: 09 July 1943
• Docket Number: No. 3870.,3870.
• Citation: 136 F.2d 886
• Parties: PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO v. PALO SECO FRUIT CO. et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

136 F.2d 886 (1943)

PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO v. PALO SECO FRUIT CO. et al.

No. 3870.

Circuit Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

July 9, 1943.

William Cattron Rigby, of Washington, D. C. (Manuel Rodriguez Ramos, Acting Atty. Gen. of Puerto Rico, of counsel), for appellant.

Herbert L. Barrett, of Boston, Mass., and L. E. Dubon, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Palo Seco Fruit Co.

Norman M. Littell, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Vernon L. Wilkinson, Atty., Department of Justice, of Washington, D. C., for the United States.

Before MAGRUDER, MAHONEY, and WOODBURY, Circuit Judges.

WOODBURY, Circuit Judge.

During October, 1941, the United States Government by condemnation proceedings obtained title to and possession of the appellee's land in Puerto Rico. The question raised by this appeal is whether the insular government is entitled to receive out of the money deposited in the court below as compensation for this land the full amount of the property taxes for the fiscal year current when the land was taken. The court below ordered that the insular government was entitled to receive only half of the property taxes for the fiscal year current at the time of taking and thereupon the People of Puerto Rico took this appeal to us under § 128 of the Judicial Code. 28 U.S.C.A. § 225.

In People of Puerto Rico v. United States, 1 Cir., 131 F.2d 151, decided by this court on November 6, 1942, we held, after analyzing the applicable Puerto Rican statutes, that no present, existing lien for property taxes for any fiscal year arose prior to the beginning of that fiscal year, that is on July 1, so that when property was condemned and taken by the United States before July 1 of a calendar year but after January 15 of that year (the date when taxes for the ensuing fiscal year are assessed) the funds deposited in court as compensation are not to be charged with the payment of any part of the property taxes for the fiscal year following. In that case we did not consider the question presented in this one, that is, whether, when property is condemned and taken after the beginning of a fiscal year but during the first half of it, there is then a present, existing lien for the whole amount of the property taxes for the then current fiscal year, or whether there is such a lien only for the first half of such taxes.

The district court held that since property taxes fall due in two equal installments, the first at the beginning of the fiscal year and the second at the beginning of the second half of that year, the lien to secure the payment of the tax arises for the first installment on July 1, and for the second installment on the first day of January following. We do not agree.

Section 315 of the Political Code provides, so far as here material, that: "The tax that is assessed for the current fiscal year * * * against each piece or parcel of real property * * * shall constitute the first lien thereon * * *." But neither it, nor any other Puerto Rican statute, specifically provides when this...