St. Louis Pub. Sch. v. City of St. Louis

• Decision Date: 31 March 1858
• Citation: 26 Mo. 468
• Parties: ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Plaintiff in Error, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Defendant in Error.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

26 Mo. 468

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Plaintiff in Error,

v.CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Defendant in Error.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

March Term, 1858.

1. The real estate belonging to the board of public schools of the city of St. Louis is liable to be assessed, under and by virtue of ordinances of the city of St. Louis, for the construction of sewers, paving of side-walks, opening streets, &c. (Lockwood v. City of St. Louis, 24 Mo. 20, affirmed.)

Error to St. Louis Land Court.

Demurrer to a petition. The plaintiffs are the board of president and directors of the St. Louis Public Schools. The petition is as follows: “Plaintiffs state that they own and hold block No. 107 in the city of St. Louis, fronting on streets on every side thereof, and divers lots of ground in the city of St. Louis, and state of Missouri, all of which have not been disposed of to individuals by sale or lease, and all of which were granted by the United States, for the support of schools in said city, by the acts of congress of June 13, 1812, May 26, 1824, and January 27, 1831, respectively; and that they also own, hold and use, at this time and for several years heretofore, divers school-houses, and other buildings in said city, for the purposes of education, with their furniture and equipments and the land appurtenant thereto and used therewith. The defendant, through its officers and agents, duly authorized by the ordinances of said city, are proceeding to assess and collect local special taxes on and from said property, respectively, to pay the expenses of opening divers streets, of paving divers side-walks along said streets, and of constructing divers sewers in said streets, in the same manner as property belonging to private individuals is assessed and collected for the purposes aforesaid. Each piece of said property is assessed and taxed separately to pay for the opening of the street adjoining the same, and for paving the side-walks thereof, and for constructing the sewer in each street. The said taxation is not for general revenue purposes, but is local and only on such portions of said property, respectively, as is near or contiguous to any street to be opened or in which a sewer is to be constructed. The plaintiffs contend that said property is exempt from taxation for any of the aforesaid purposes by the second section of the first article of the act of the legislature of this state, entitled ‘An act to provide for levying, assessing and collecting the revenue,’ approved December 13, 1855. The plaintiffs therefore ask this court for judgment against the defendant, forever enjoining and prohibiting said defendant from assessing or collecting any part thereof for the purposes aforesaid, or for any other purposes whatever; and the plaintiffs also ask for such other and further and general relief in the premises as they may be lawfully entitled to.”

The court sustained a demurrer to this petition.

Casselberry, for plaintiffs in error.

I. The principle of the case of Lockwood v. City of St. Louis is not applicable to this case....