State v. Moreland
| Decision Date | 15 September 1931 |
| Docket Number | 20258. |
| Citation | 3 P.2d 803,152 Okla. 37,1931 OK 532 |
| Parties | STATE ex rel. v. MORELAND et al. HATFIELD |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Oct. 13, 1931.
Syllabus by the Court.
The right of the state to tax shares of stock of a national bank is granted by the provisions of section 548, 12 USCA, which provides that the Legislature of each state may determine and direct the manner and place of taxing all the shares of national banking associations located within its limits, with certain limitations. The state is authorized to provide for a tax on the shares of stock of the national bank, the dividends derived therefrom by the owners or holders thereof or the income of the association, and the imposition of one of those forms of taxation must be in lieu of all other forms of taxation.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 548, 12 USCA, the state is authorized to tax real property of national banks, to the same extent, according to its value, as other real property in the state is taxed.
Syllabus by the Court.
Pursuant to the authority contained in section 548, 12 USCA, the state of Oklahoma has elected to tax the actual value of the shares of national banks in the county and city where the bank is located in lieu of other permitted forms of taxation. Section 9607, C. O. S. 1921. It has provided a method for determining the value of the shares of stock of national banks for taxation purposes and has authorized the deduction from the value thereof of the portion of the capital stock of the bank invested in real estate situated in the state as a means for determining the value of the shares for taxation purposes.
Syllabus by the Court.
For the purpose of collecting taxes upon the shares of stock of national banks, the Legislature has imposed the duty upon every national bank, or the managing officer or officers thereof, to pay the tax assessed against the shares of stock thereof; it has authorized the bank to retain so much of every dividend or dividends belonging to the owners or holders of the shares of stock as shall be necessary to pay any taxes levied upon their shares of stock, respectively until it shall be made to appear to the bank or its officers that such taxes have been paid, and it has given to the bank and its officers the authority to sell the said shares of stock to reimburse the bank for any taxes on the shares of stock so paid by the bank. It has imposed a penalty for the breach of the duty imposed upon the officers of the bank. Section 9607, C. O. S. 1921.
Syllabus by the Court.
A national bank, or the officers thereof, acts as the agent of the owners or holders of the shares of stock of the bank in paying the taxes assessed against the shares of stock of the bank.
Syllabus by the Court.
The failure of a national bank, or the officers thereof, in fixing the value of the shares of stock of the bank for taxation purposes, to deduct from the value of the paid-up capital stock, surplus, and undivided profits of the bank the value of real estate owned by the bank, and the assessment of the shares of stock at the value of the paid-up capital stock, surplus, and undivided profits, without the deduction therefrom of the value of the real estate owned by the bank, does not constitute an assessment "more than once for the taxes of the same year" and does not authorize a refund of taxes based on such an assessment of the shares of stock which have been paid.
Syllabus by the Court.
The county commissioners of a county are not authorized, by the provisions of section 9648, C. O. S. 1921, to order a refund of taxes theretofore paid.
Syllabus by the Court.
The authority of the county commissioners, under the provisions of section 9648, C. O. S. 1921, is limited to finding from the testimony of the claimant and at least one reputable witness, borne out by the records of the county, that property, either real or personal, has been assessed more than once for the taxes of the same year, or that property either real or personal, has been assessed in the county for the taxes of a year to which the same was not subject; to issue a certificate of error showing that the complaint has been investigated by the county commissioners and that the county commissioners are satisfied of the truth of the allegations of the complaint, and to direct the county treasurer to accept the certificate of error as a payment of cash to the amount found by the county commissioners to have been unjustly assessed.
Syllabus by the Court.
The authority of the county treasurer, under the provisions of section 9648, C. O. S. 1921, is limited to crediting upon his tax roll against the tax found by the county commissioners to be erroneous the amount of erroneous tax so found by the county commissioners, as stated in their certificate.
Syllabus by the Court.
Sections 8589, 8590, and 8591, C. O. S. 1921, were adopted, as they now appear, with the adoption of the Revised Laws of 1910. Each of the sections is a constituent part thereof and each is to be construed as a part of that code.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 8590, C. O. S. 1921, every officer of any county who shall order or direct the payment of any money belonging to such county in settlement of any claim known to such officer to be fraudulent or void, and every person, having notice of the facts, to whom, or for whose benefit such money shall be paid, shall be jointly and severally liable in damage to the county for double the amount of all such sums of money so paid to be recovered at the suit of the proper officers of such county.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 8591, C. O. S. 1921, upon the refusal, failure, or neglect of the proper officers of any county, after written demand made upon them by ten resident taxpayers of the county, to institute or diligently prosecute proper proceedings at law for the recovery of the penalty provided by section 8590, C. O. S. 1921, any resident taxpayer of the county affected by such payment, after serving the notice aforesaid and after giving security for cost, may, in the name of the state of Oklahoma as plaintiff, institute and maintain any proper action which the proper officers of the county might institute and maintain for the recovery of said penalty.
Syllabus by the Court.
The provisions of sections 8590 and 8591, C. O. S. 1921, are in addition to the provisions of section 5834, C. O. S. 1921 (), providing for appeal from the orders of the board of county commissioners, and they are effective notwithstanding a failure to appeal from an order of the board of county commissioners as provided by section 5834, Id.
Syllabus by the Court.
The knowledge of the officers referred to in section 8590, C. O. S. 1921, is knowledge of facts and not of law. County officers, as other citizens, are presumed to know the law and are charged with knowledge of the law. They may not be relieved of liability for their unlawful acts by a claim of ignorance of the law.
Syllabus by the Court.
An order of the county commissioners made pursuant to the provisions of section 9648, C. O. S. 1921, for the issuance of a certificate of error, is not a judgment against the county.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 5658, C. O. S. 1921, no execution shall issue upon a judgment against a county, but a tax sufficient to pay the same shall be levied and collected in like manner as other county taxes, and when collected shall be paid by the county treasurer on the delivery of a proper receipt and the signing of an acknowledgment on the court record of said judgment by the party in whose favor the judgment was rendered or by his attorney of record that the same has been satisfied.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 8571, C. O. S. 1921, it is the duty of the officers of the county authorized to levy taxes to make a levy each year for a sinking fund sufficient to pay one-third of the original amount of all outstanding judgments against the municipality. Judgments are required to be paid from that fund in annual installments after levies have been made therefor, and there is no provision of the law of Oklahoma for the payment of a judgment against the county in any other manner.
Syllabus by the Court.
There is no constitutional authority for paying funds from a sinking fund of a county for any purpose other than for interest coupons as they fall due, bonds as they fall due, and such parts of judgments as the county may, by law, be required to pay. Section 28, article 10, of the Constitution of Oklahoma.
Syllabus by the Court.
No tax levied and collected for one purpose shall ever be devoted to any other purpose. Section 19, article 10 of the Constitution of Oklahoma.
Syllabus by the Court.
Taxes levied and collected for the purpose of creating a sinking fund for a county may not be used for the payment of a refund of taxes, and the Legislature is without constitutional authority to provide for the payment from a sinking fund of any refund of taxes in excess of the actual amount of taxes levied for and paid into the county sinking fund. A legislative act conflicting therewith is in violation of section 19, article 10, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, and is void.
Syllabus by the Court.
An instruction to a jury that, if the value of real estate owned by a national bank was not deducted from the value of its shares of stock in fixing the value of the shares of stock for taxation purposes, a claim filed with the county commissioners, after the payment of the tax on the shares of stock, for a refund of a portion of the tax paid on the shares of stock, was not fraudulent or...
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