St. Louis, R.I.&C.R. Co. v. People ex rel. Kinsey

• Decision Date: 21 December 1898
• Citation: 177 Ill. 78,52 N.E. 364
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Parties: ST. LOUIS, R. I. & C. R. CO. v. PEOPLE ex rel. KINSEY, County Collector.

177 Ill. 78

52 N.E. 364

ST. LOUIS, R. I. & C. R. CO.

v.PEOPLE ex rel. KINSEY, County Collector.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Dec. 21, 1898.

Appeal from Mercer county court; J. H. Connell, Judge.

Application by the people, on relation of Charles Kinsey, county collector of Mercer county, against the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad Company, for a judgment for the amount of a tax levy. There was a judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appealed. Reversed.

Grier & Stewart, for appellant.

James M. Brock, State's Atty., for appellee.

CARTWRIGHT, J.

School district No. 1 in Keithsburg township, Mercer county, is under the control of a board of education, and on July 3, 1897, the president and secretary of said board made and transmitted to the township treasurer the following: ‘Certificate of Levy. We hereby certify that we require the amount of $7,500 to be levied as a special tax for school purposes on the taxable property of our district for the year 1897. Given under our hands this 3d day of July, A. D. 1897. J. S. Allen, President. H. P. Humbert, Secretary. Directors Dist. No. 1, T. 13, R. 5, Mercer County, Ill.’ The township treasurer returned this certificate to the county clerk, who filed it August 9, 1897, and extended a tax of $374.85, by virtue of said certificate, against the property of appellant. The tax so extended exceeds 2 per cent. of the assessed valuation of appellant's property by the sum of $133.01. Appellant paid $241.84, being 2 per cent. on the valuation of its property, and on application for judgment objected to the excess as levied and extended without authority of law. The county court overruled the objection, and entered judgment for the tax, with interest, penalties, and costs.

The authority of boards of education to levy a tax for educational purposes is limited by statute to 2 per cent. on the valuation ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes. They are also authorized to levy a tax for building purposes, and in such case the limit is 3 per cent.; but, if they make levies for both objects, they are required to make a certificate in the form provided by the statute, stating therein separately the sum required to be levied for school purposes and the sum to be levied for building purposes. Hurd's Rev. St. c. 122, art. 8, §§ 1, 2. This certificate is the basis of all school taxes. It constitutes the levy and the evidence of it, and any tax not based upon a lawful certificate is null and void. Weber v. Railway Co., 108 Ill. 451;Lawrence v. Traner, 136 Ill. 474, 27 N. E. 197. The form of the certificate is mandatory, and if it is for school purposes, and fails to state that a tax is required to be levied for building purposes, a levy beyond 2 per cent. will be void. The purpose of the statute is that the amounts required shall be separately specified, so that the county clerk can extend the tax within the limits provided by the law,...