Spokane & I.E.R. Co. v. Spokane County

• Decision Date: 26 September 1914
• Docket Number: 11953.
• Citation: Spokane & I.E.R. Co. v. Spokane County, 143 P. 307, 82 Wash. 24 (Wash. 1914)
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: SPOKANE & I. E. R. CO. v. SPOKANE COUNTY et al.

143 P. 307

82 Wash. 24

SPOKANE & I. E. R. CO. v. SPOKANE COUNTY et al.

No. 11953.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

September 26, 1914

Appeal from Superior Court, Spokane County; Bruce Blake, Judge.

Action by the Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Company against Spokane County and others.From a judgment of dismissal plaintiff appeals.Reversed and remanded, with instructions.

Graves, Kizer & Graves, of Spokane, for appellant.

George H. Crandall and Thos. Corkery, Jr., both of Spokane, for respondents.

MAIN J.

In this action the validity of a tax levy against the plaintiff's property during the year 1912 is involved.To the amended complaint a demurrer was interposed and sustained by the trial court.The plaintiff elected to stand upon the amended complaint, and refused to plead further.A judgment was entered dismissing the action.The plaintiff appeals.

The amended complaint is too voluminous to be here set out in full.Only the facts as alleged therein will be stated, so far as may be necessary to an understanding of the questions presented.The appellant owns and operates a street railway system within the city of Spokane and interurban lines extending from that city to other towns and cities in the vicinity.During the year 1910 the railroad commission of this state caused its engineers and accountants to commence an examination of the books, and of the property of the appellant, for the purpose of making the findings required by section 12, c. 93, Laws of 1909.Such examination and investigation continued thereafter until some time during the year 1911.As a result of the investigation, the public service commission, which had succeeded the railroad commission, on September 21, 1911, made a finding that the value of the plaintiff's operating property within the state of Washington was $12,500,000 during the period between January 1, 1911, and June 30, 1911.The value fixed by this finding was adopted by the state board of equalization as the value of the plaintiff's operating property within the state of Washington for the year 1911 for the purposes of taxation.During the assessment period of 1912, the appellant applied to the state board of tax commissioners for a hearing with respect to the value of its property for taxing purposes for that year, requesting the state tax commission to inquire into such value and hear evidence with respect thereto, stating, as a reason therefore, that the conditions had so changed since the finding fixing the value of its property that such property was greatly depreciated in value, and that a lower value ought to be placed upon it for taxing purposes for the year 1912.The state board of tax commissioners refused to grant the hearing, and refused to make the inquiry desired into the value of the property, stating, as a reason for its declination, that it was bound by the findings of the value made by the public service commission, and could not make another finding of value for taxing purposes, no matter what the value of the property might be.When the state board of equalization convened in September, 1912, the plaintiff appeared before it and asked to be heard and permitted to introduce evidence tending to show that, since the time of the investigation of value made by the public service commission, conditions had so changed that the value of its operating property had greatly decreased.The state board of equalization refused to hear evidence with respect to the change of condition of value for the reason, as it believed it was without power to change the value found by the public service commission in 1911.The state board of equalization at its session in 1912, fixed the value of the appellant's operating property within the state at $12,500,000; this being the value as found during the previous year by the public service commission.

The appellant alleges with much detail facts for the purpose of showing there had been a depreciation in the value of its operating property subsequent to the finding of the public service commission, and prior to the making of the levy for 1912.It was alleged that, during the assessment year for the period of 1912, the market value of its property in the state of Washington was not in excess of $6,645,000.One reason stated for the depreciation was that since the investigation, and the finding made by the commission, competing railway lines had been built into the most productive territory occupied by the appellant's lines, and the result of the building of these competing lines was that the appellant's property was greatly and permanently decreased in its earning capacity.It is also alleged in the amended complaint that property within Spokane county was assessed by the county assessor of such county for the year 1912, at not to exceed 32 per cent. of its true cash value, and that the state board of equalization arbitrarily, without any attempt to ascertain or determine what ratio of value had been adopted by the county assessor as the value of property within his jurisdiction for assessment purposes, had fixed the ratio at which appellant's property should be assessed at 42.16 per cent. of its true cash value, and the state board of tax commissioners certified the value of appellant's property apportioned to Spokane county upon that percentage of value, and the tax levied against such property was levied upon such percentage.

Upon the matter of a tender, the amended complaint alleges that the sum justly due on account of the taxes for the year 1912 is $43,765.87, and that on March 13, 1913, this sum was tendered to the treasurer of Spokane county in payment of the taxes then due, which had been levied during the year 1912 and the further...