State v. Board of Com'rs of Yellowstone County

• Decision Date: 26 September 1892
• Citation: 31 P. 78,12 Mont. 503
• Parties: STATE ex rel. SHAPLEY v. BOARD OF COM'RS OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

31 P. 78

12 Mont. 503

STATE ex rel. SHAPLEY v. BOARD OF COM'RS OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Montana

September 26, 1892

Application for mandamus on the relation of Louise Shapley against the board of county commissioners of Yellowstone county. Writ granted.

Henri J. Haskell, Atty. Gen., for respondent.

BLAKE C.J.

This is an application for a writ of mandate to be directed to the board of county commissioners of the county of Yellowstone commanding the levy of a special tax on the property of school district No. 6, for the purpose of satisfying a judgment in favor of Louise Shapley. The following facts are admitted by the parties: A judgment was obtained October 29 1890, in the district court of the seventh judicial district of the state, by said Shapley, against the board of trustees of school district No. 6, in the county of Yellowstone, for the sum of $480, and costs. No part of this judgment has been paid, although a demand therefor has been made upon said board of trustees. The amount of moneys belonging to said district is $340.15, which is insufficient to pay the judgment. The relator presented, June 7, 1892, a petition and prayed that the respondent, "while levying taxes for county and school purposes for the year 1892, cause to be levied upon all taxable property within said school district No. 6 a tax sufficient for paying in full, and for the purpose of paying in full, the said judgment, costs, and all interest that may be due on the date of the payment of the same, as said trustees had not the funds under their control as such, to pay the same." The petition was then denied. The respondent, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining common schools within the county of Yellowstone, levied August 8, 1892, an annual tax of three mills on the dollar of all its taxable property, for the year 1892. Copies of the judgment, a statement of the county treasurer of the amount of funds to the credit of this school district, and said petition, and the proceedings of the said board of county commissioners, are made a part of this application.

The main issue of the law is stated in the following allegation of the pleadings: The application states "that, as affiant is informed and believes, it is the duty of said board of county commissioners, under the provisions of the laws of the state of Montana in such case made and provided, to levy a tax on the taxable property of said school district sufficient to raise funds wherewith to pay the amount of said judgment, interest, and costs, owing and due, according to the terms thereof, at the time when payment is made; which tax should be levied and collected at the time and in the manner provided by law for the levying and collecting of other taxes upon the taxable property of said school district for the present year, A. D. 1892." The answer thereto is as follows: "We deny that it is the duty of this board of commissioners, under the provisions of the laws of Montana, to levy a tax on the taxable property, or any part thereof, of school district No. 6, in the county of Yellowstone, state of Montana, sufficient to raise funds wherewith to pay the amount of said judgment, or any other amount, or the interest thereon, or any part thereof, or the costs, or any part thereof, or to levy any tax whatever on said property of said district, or any part thereof, except under and according to the provisions of sections 1902, 1905, 1906 of the School Laws of Montana, and section 765, div. 5, Comp. Laws Mont. This board, further answering, says that it has no power or authority, under the laws of the state of Montana, to levy said tax, or any part thereof, as prayed for in the within petition; that the levying of said tax, as prayed for in said petition, is not a duty especially enjoined by law upon said board, nor is it a duty of said board, resulting from said office of commissioners of said county of Yellowstone."

The judgment, under the statutes regulating this matter, is a debt of the school district. "Any board of trustees shall be liable, as trustees, in the name of the district, for any judgment against the district for any salary due any teacher on contract, and for all debts legally contracted under the provisions of this article, and they shall pay such judgment or liabilities out of the school moneys to the credit of such district." Comp. St. div. 5, § 1888. The constitution points out the mode for the payment of these judgments: "Private property shall not be taken or sold for the corporate debts of public corporations, but the legislative assembly may provide by law for the funding thereof, and shall provide by law for the payment thereof, including all funded debts and obligations, by assessment and taxation of all private property not exempt from taxation within the limits of the territory over which such corporations, respectively, have authority." Article 12, § 8. The funds of school districts are in the custody of the county treasurer, who is charged with the duty of collecting and disbursing the same. Comp. St. div. 5, § 1867. The trustees of the school district have no power to levy a tax to secure the money which is necessary to pay the claim of the relator. Their authority is also restricted by the clause providing that they cannot draw a warrant on the county treasurer in favor of any person, "unless there is money in the treasury to the credit of such district." Id. § 1869. We are not aware of any statute which can be invoked by the relator to aid her in the collection of this judgment, through the agency of the trustees of the school district.

What duty has been devolved by law upon the respondent for the assessment of taxes for school uses? The intention of the framers of the constitution is evident when we compare the following clauses: It is solemnly ordained "that provision shall be made for the establishment and maintenance of a uniform system of public schools, which shall be open to all children of said state of Montana, and free from sectarian control." Ordinance 1, par. 4. "It shall be the duty of the legislative assembly of Montana to establish and maintain a general, uniform, and thorough system of public, free, common schools." Article 11, § 1. "It shall be the duty of the legislative assembly to provide, by taxation or otherwise, sufficient means, in connection with the amount received from the general school fund, to maintain a public, free, common school in each organized district in the state, for at least three months in each year."...