Ramsey v. City of Shelbyville

• Decision Date: 02 December 1904
• Parties: RAMSEY et al. v. CITY OF SHELBYVILLE et al. [*]
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

83 S.W. 116

119 Ky. 180

RAMSEY et al. v. CITY OF SHELBYVILLE et al. ^[*]

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

December 2, 1904

Appeal from Circuit Court, Shelby County.

"To be officially reported."

Action by T. J. Ramsey and others against the city of Shelbyville and others. Judgment for defendants. Plaintiffs appeal. Reversed.

Gilbert & Gilbert and J. C. Beckham & Son, for appellants.

Willis & Todd and P.J. Beard, for appellees.

HOBSON J.

On March 20, 1902, the board of council of the city of Shelbyville enacted the following ordinance:

"Be it ordained by the board of council of the city of Shelbyville, Ky.:

"Section 1. That the board of council of the city of Shelbyville Ky. for and on behalf of said city accepts the proposition of Andrew Carnegie made to said city, namely that he, Andrew Carnegie, will give $10,000.00 for the purpose of erecting a free public library building on the condition that a suitable site be provided, and the city of Shelbyville guarantees by ordinance the sum of $1,000.00 annually for the support and maintenance thereof.

"Sec. 2. That there be and now is appropriated to the support and maintenance of the Shelbyville Free Public Library the sum of $1,000.00 per annum; same to be paid in quarterly payments of $250.00 each to the treasurer as long as said library is in existence to be used only for the purpose of maintaining and supporting said Free Public Library.

"Sec. 3. That there be levied annually on all the property in the city of Shelbyville subject to taxation for city and county, a tax sufficient to provide each year for the aforesaid sum of $1,000.00.

"Sec. 4. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force on and after the first day of January, 1903."

Appellants, who are taxpayers of the city, filed this suit to test the validity of the ordinance; and, the circuit court having dismissed their petition, they appeal.

It is insisted for the city that, as no levy has been made under the ordinance, we have only a moot case, and there is no real issue before the court. While no levy has been made, the ordinance accepts on behalf of the city the proposition of Mr. Carnegie made to the city, and guaranties the sum of $1,000 annually for the support and maintenance of the library. Though the ordinance did not take effect until January 1, 1903, it created, if valid, an obligation on the city; and, if it was beyond the power of the council to pass the ordinance, taxpayers of the city may maintain an action to have it declared invalid. Roberts v. Louisville, 92 Ky. 97, 17 S.W. 216, 13 L. R. A. 844; Keith v. Johnson, 109 Ky. 491, 59 S.W. 487.

The authority of the council to legislate on the question is found in section 3490, subsec. 22, Ky. St. 1903, which, among other things, confers on the board of council the following powers: "To erect a workhouse, poorhouse, stationhouse and house of correction, or all or either of them, and to provide for the maintenance, regulation and government thereof, and of the persons confined therein, and to provide, maintain and regulate a public burial ground; to establish, maintain and regulate a local public library, and raise subscriptions, donations and gifts thereto." It is insisted for appellants that the power to establish, maintain, and regulate a local public library is limited to the raising of subscriptions, donations, and gifts thereto, and that the council has no power to levy a tax for this purpose. But undoubtedly the council may levy a tax to erect a workhouse, station house, or house of correction, or to provide a public burial ground, and the power to maintain a local public library is as broad as its power to do the other things. The power to raise subscriptions, donations, and gifts is simply an additional power, and these words are not a limitation on the preceding part of the sentence. By the act of March 21, 1902 (see section 3480a, Ky. St. 1903), the Legislature has further regulated the subject. But independently of that act and before its passage the council had power to establish and maintain a local public library by taxation.

Section 184 of the Constitution, among other things, provides: "No sum shall be raised or collected for education other than in common schools until the question of taxation is submitted to the legal voters, and the majority of the votes cast at said election shall be in favor of such taxation: provided, the tax now imposed for educational purposes, and for the endowment and maintenance of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, shall remain until changed by law." It is urged that taxes...