Sommerville v. Board of County Commissioners of Douglas County
Decision Date | 09 December 1927 |
Docket Number | 25643 |
Citation | 216 N.W. 815,116 Neb. 282 |
Parties | N. M. SOMMERVILLE, APPELLANT, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY ET AL., APPELLEES. [*] |
Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the district court for Douglas county: WILLIAM G HASTINGS, JUDGE. Affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
Brown & Dibble, for appellant.
W. W Slabaugh, Henry J. Beal, James H. Adams, Gaines, Van Orsdel & Gaines and Blackburn & King, contra.
Edwin F. Myers, amicus curiae.
Heard before GOSS, C. J., ROSE, DEAN, GOOD, THOMPSON and EBERLY JJ., and RAIT, District Judges.
The appellant, as a taxpayer, made complaint to the board of equalization of Douglas county respecting the assessment of appellee life insurance companies. His complaint was dismissed, and he attempted an appeal to the district court, where demurrers to his petition were sustained, and, following these rulings, the matter is brought to this court.
Appellant's complaint is as follows:
In plaintiff's brief it is said:
In this situation the court is asked to declare unconstitutional section 5896, Comp. St. 1922, so as to compel compliance with section 5884. Section 5896 provides that domestic life insurance companies shall pay 4 mills upon the gross premiums collected in this state, "in lieu of all other taxes upon intangible property," to be paid to the state; and section 5884, provides that intangible property shall be assessed at 25 per cent. of the mill rate levied upon tangible property, to be paid to the county where the owner resides, and to be "in lieu of all other taxes upon such intangible property."
Section 1, art. VIII of the Constitution, provides:
"The necessary revenue of the state and its governmental subdivisions shall be raised by taxation in such manner as the legislature may direct; but taxes shall be levied by valuation uniformly and proportionately upon all tangible property and franchises, and taxes uniform as to class may be levied by valuation upon all other property."
It will be noted from the above that the legislature is empowered to tax tangible property by valuation, uniformly and proportionately, and to tax intangible property by valuation, uniformly, and without proportionate rates. This has been attempted by the legislature in sections 5896 and 5884. These sections, with others, while dealing with different classes, are comprised in the same subject-matter, the intangible tax law, as authorized by the Constitution. The requirement as to uniformity and valuation as provided in the Constitution runs through the entire intangible tax law, and the identical objections raised by the plaintiff against the constitutionality of section 5896 may be urged with as much force against section 5884.
The...
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