State ex rel. Showalter v. Cook

• Decision Date: 11 December 1933
• Docket Number: 24873.
• Citation: 175 Wash. 364,27 P.2d 1075
• Parties: STATE ex rel. SHOWALTER .v COOK, County Assessor.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

27 P.2d 1075

175 Wash. 364

STATE ex rel. SHOWALTER .v COOK, County Assessor.

No. 24873.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

December 11, 1933

Appeal from Superior Court, Thurston County; John M. Wilson, Judge.

Action in mandamus by the State, on the relation of N.D. Showalter individually and as Superintendent of Public Instruction against F. D. Cook, as County Assessor of Thurston County. From an adverse judgment, defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Harold P. Troy and Smith Troy, both of Olympia and McMicken, Ramsey, Rupp & Schweppe, of Seattle, for appellant.

Chas W. Greenough and A. O. Colburn, both of Spokane and Preston, Thorgrimson & Turner, of Seattle, for respondent.

STEINERT Justice.

This is an action in mandamus to compel the assessor of Thurston county to compute and extend upon the tax rolls of that county the total amount of the tax levy as made and certified by the state board of equalization on September 23, 1933. Upon a hearing Before the court, and pursuant to its findings and conclusions, a judgment was entered directing the issuance of a peremptory writ commanding the assessor to compute and extend the levy of taxes for state purposes as fixed by the state board of equalization. From that judgment, the assessor has appealed.

The findings made by the court below, concerning which no question is raised here, present the following facts: Appellant is the assessor of Thurston county, and as such is charged by law with the duty of extending, and placing upon the tax rolls, the state tax levy made by the state tax commission sitting as the state board of equalization. We will hereinafter refer to these two bodies as 'the tax commission' and 'the state board,' respectively.

The total assessed valuation of all taxable property in Thurston county, as determined by the assessor and county equalization board, for the year 1933, plus the county's proportion of the valuation of public utilities as found by the tax commission, was the sum of $12,273,429, and it was so certified to the state board by the assessor.

After receiving the returns of the various county assessors showing the assessed valuations of the property in their respective counties for the year 1933, the state board officially found and determined that all of the property in Thurston county had, for that year, been assessed at 36 per cent. of its true and fair value in money, and no more; the state board likewise found and determined that the property in all the other counties of the state had been assessed, in varying ratios, at less than 50 per cent. of its true and fair value. In equalizing the assessed valuations of the total taxable property in the state, the state board first found and determined its true and fair value in money, and then, for state taxation purposes, fixed the assessed valuation of all such property at 50 per cent. of such amount. In so equalizing such assessed valuations, the state board fixed the assessed valuation of all taxable property in Thurston county at $17,046,429, which amount the state board duly found was 50 per cent. of the true and fair value of such property in money.

On or about September 27, 1933, the state board levied the state tax authorized for 1933 and certified the levy to the state auditor, who, within the time provided by law, transmitted to the assessor a transcript of the proceedings of the state board, specifying the amount to be levied and collected on the county assessment rolls for state purposes for that year, together with the amount due to each state fund, and unpaid from the county, for taxes levied in the seventh preceding year. The total levy, including an item of $17,603.38 for veterans' compensation and bond retirement, was the sum of $109,840.70. Excluding the item of $17,603.38 for bond retirement, the total levy for state tax purposes does not exceed 5 mills on the valuation made by the state board of all taxable property in Thurston county. Demand was at the same time duly made upon the assessor that he extend the full amount of the levy upon the county tax rolls.

The assessor refused to adopt the assessed valuation of the property in Thurston county as determined by the state board as a basis for the levy of the state tax, and refused to extend upon the county tax rolls the amount of the state tax so levied, but, instead, as it is alleged, is about to enter upon the tax rolls an amount, computed upon the assessor's valuation, equal to 5 mills for general state purposes and delinquent taxes for the seventh preceding year, and one mill for bond retirement purposes, and no more, with the result that the amount to be extended upon the county tax rolls by the assessor for general state purposes and for delinquent taxes for the seventh preceding year will amount to $61,367, and no more. In passing, it may be said that we are not here concerned with the one-mill levy for bond retirement purposes.

The aggregate value of the real and personal property in the thirty-nine counties of the state, as equalized by the various county boards of equalization, is $870,577,482, to which is to be added the sum of $139,551,312.50, which is the equalized value of steam railroads, electric railways, telegraph lines, and private car companies; or a total of $1,010,128,794.50. The aggregate value of all taxable property in the state, as equalized by the state board, is $1,129,926,062. The several counties adopted various ratios of percentage of value, ranging from 36 per cent. to 48 per cent., as a basis of assessment. The ratio adopted in Thurston county was 36 per cent. of the true and fair value of the property in money, and as a result of that procedure the amount which the assessor is about to extend for state tax purposes is only 67.043 per cent. of the amount found by the state board to be the correct amount, and as levied by it.

The sole question Before us is whether taxes for state purposes must be computed upon the valuation certified by the assessor or upon that found by the state board.

At this point it may be desirable and useful to set forth, as briefly as possible, the procedure with reference to assessment and taxation, in so far as it is material and instructive here.

All real property subject to taxation must be listed and assessed in every even-numbered year, with reference to its value on the 1st day of March of the year in which it is assessed; personal property must be listed and assessed every year with reference to its value as of the same date. Rem. Rev. Stat. §§ 11111 and 11112. The listing and assessment must be completed by May 31st. Rem. Rev. Stat. § 11140. All property must be assessed at 50 per cent. of its true and fair value in money, and, in determining the true and fair value of real or personal property, the assessor may not adopt a lower or different standard of value merely because the same is to serve as a basis for taxation. Rem. Rev. Stat. §§ 11135 and 11140. On the first Monday in July, the county board of equalization is required to meet in session and, after examining and comparing the returns of assessment, proceed to equalize the same and forward to the state board a copy of the corrected assessment rolls. Rem. Rev. Stat. § 11220. This section also provides: 'No taxes, except special taxes, shall be extended upon the taxrolls until the property valuations are euqalized by the state board of equalization for the purpose of raising the state revenue.'

The powers and duties of the state board are set forth in Rem. Rev. Stat. § 11222, which we quote in full:

'The members of the tax commission shall constitute the state board of equalization; the chairman of the tax commission shall be the president of the board, and the secretary of the tax commission shall be the secretary thereof. The board shall remain in session not to exceed twenty days; it may adjourn from day to day, and employ such clerical assistance as may be deemed necessary to facilitate its labors. The board shall meet annually on the first Tuesday in September at the office of the tax commission, and shall examine and compare the returns of the assessment of the property in the several counties of the state, and the assessment of the property of railroad and telegraph companies, and proceed to equalize the same, so that each county in the state shal (shall) pay its due and just proportion of the taxes for state purposes for such assessment year, according to the ratio the valuation of the property in each county bears to the total valuation of all property in the state.

'First. They shall classify all property, real and personal, and shall raise and lower the valuation of any class of property in any county to a value that shall be equal and uniform, so far as possible, in every part of the state, for the purpose of ascertaining the just amount of tax due from each county for state purposes.

'Second. The secretary shall keep a full record of the proceedings of the board, and the same shall be published annually by the state tax commission.

'Third. They shall have authority to adopt the rules and regulations for the government of the board, and to enforce obedience to its orders in all matters in relation to the returns of county assessments, and the equalization of values by said board.

'The state board of equalization shall levy the state taxes authorized by law: Provided, that the amount levied in any one year for general state purposes shall not exceed five mills on the dollar of the assessed value of the property of the entire state; and shall apportion the amount of tax for state purposes levied by the board, among the several counties, in proportion to the valuation of the taxable property of the county for the year as equalized by the board.

'Within three

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