Pinion v. Walker County School District

• Decision Date: 14 November 1947
• Docket Number: 16008.
• Parties: PINION et al. v. WALKER COUNTY SCHOOL DIST. et al.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

45 S.E.2d 405

203 Ga. 99

PINION et al. v. WALKER COUNTY SCHOOL DIST. et al.

No. 16008.

Supreme Court of Georgia

November 14, 1947

Syllabus by the Court.

1. 'No election shall be defeated for non-complaince with the requirements of the law, if held at the proper time and place by persons qualified to hold it, unless it is shown that, by such non-compliance, the result is different from what it would have been had there been proper compliance.' Code, § 34-3101. Accordingly, since it is not contended in the instant case that the result of the election would have been different, it is unnecessary to determine whether an unspecified number of persons, whose names did not appear on the voters list for the last general election, were properly or improperly denied the right to vote in an election held for the purpose of authorizing a bond issue within a county school district. See Cloud v Maxey, 195 Ga. 90, 23 S.E.2d 668; Chamlee v Davis, 115 Ga. 266, 41 S.E. 691; Brumby v. City of Marietta, 132 Ga. 408(2), 64 S.E. 321; Alexander v Ryan, Ga.Sup., 43 S.E.2d 654; Coleman v. Board of Education, 131 Ga. 643(9), 63 S.E. 41.

2. A consolidated county school district is a separate political division of this State such as is authorized to incur a bonded indebtedness up to 7% of the assessed valuation of its taxable property, independent of and in addition to any outstanding bonded indebtedness incurred by any of its component former local school districts prior to their merger into a county-wide school district.

(a) Under the above ruling the fact that a former local school district may already have a bonded indebtedness which, when added to its proportionate share of a proposed bonded indebtedness by a county-wide school district of which it is a component part, will exceed 7% of the assessed valuation of the taxable property of such former local school district, does not make such proposed bond issue by the county school district invalid as being violative of the provisions of art. VII, sec. VII, par. I of the constitution of Georgia.

3. Under the stipulated facts the proposed bond issue in the amount of $550,000 by Walker County School District, independent of outstanding bonded indebtedness of its former local school districts, does not exceed 7% of the assessed valuation of its combined taxable properties under either the tax digest of 1946 or 1947, and it follows therefore that the trial court did not err in entering an order validating said bonds.

Statement of facts by JENKINS, Chief Justice:

The solicitor general of the Rome judicial circuit instituted proceedings against Walker County School District for the purpose of validating bonds in the amount of $550,000 to be issued for the purpose of building and equipping school houses in said district; which bond issue was approved by a vote of 805 to 548 in an election held for that purpose. J O. Pinion and others, citizens and taxpayers of said school district, filed an intervention and objected to the validation of said bonds on the ground that said election was invalid for the reason that certain qualified voters were denied the right to vote therein, and for the further reason that the proposed bond issue was in an amount prohibited under the 7% debt limitation provisions of the constitution of Georgia. Art. VII, sec. VII, par. I, Code Supp. § 2-6001. The issues were tried on an agreed statement of facts in which it is made to appear that: 'The list of voters that was used in the bond election is identically the same list that was used at the last general election for members of the General Assembly, preceding the bond election and that no persons who had qualified or registered with the tax collector or with the board of registrars subsequent to the last general election and prior to the election for the bonds were added thereto or permitted to vote at the election.' It was further made to appear from the stipulated facts that a bonded indebtedness in the amount of $550,000 does not exceed 7% of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in Walker County School District; but if Walker County School District is required to take into account and add the amount of outstanding bonded indebtedness of former local school districts which now comprise the Walker County School District, then the aggregate of the two amounts of indebtedness will exceed 7% of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the Walker County District as measured by the valuations of the 1946 tax digest, but would not exceed 7% of the assessed valuation as measured by the 1947 digest. The trial court dismissed the interventions and entered an order validating said bonds. Exceptions are to that order. The plaintiffs in error contend that the following questions are presented for determination: '(1) The election being called to be held on the 30th day of May, 1947, and the proposed bonds to be dated July 1, 1947, the question arises as to whether in determining the amount of the taxable values of the property located in the school districts, as to whether the digests for the year 1946 would apply or whether the digests for the year 1947 would apply? (2) That after the act of 1946, whereby all of the local school districts in Walker County, with the exception of the independent school districts, were consolidated into one district, as to whether or not the outstanding bonds of the respective local school districts should be added together and this added to the proposed $550,000 of bonds in determining as to whether or not that would exceed seven (7%) percentum of the assessed tax values of the property located in the school district. (3) That the old LaFayette School District had outstanding $90,000 of school bonds at the time of the election and of the validation, and that the value of the property located in the LaFayette school district is approximately one-fifth of the entire value of the taxable property located in the Walker County school district, and this together with the $90,000 of bonds and its proportionate part of the proposed $550,000 of bonds, would be in excess...