Walker v. Edmonds
| Decision Date | 07 January 1901 |
| Docket Number | 112 |
| Parties | Walker v. Edmonds |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Argued October 16, 1900
Appeal, No. 112, Oct. T., 1900, by defendants, from decree of C.P. Butler Co., Sept. T., 1897, No. 6, on bill in equity in case of Daniel Walker et al. v. Andrew Edmonds et al directors of Parker Township School District. Affirmed.
Bill in equity for an injunction to restrain the collection of a school building tax.
From the record it appeared that the complainant claimed, first that the tax was illegal because it was not levied before July 1, 1897, and, second, that as there has been no levy of a regular annual tax, the building tax levied on July 22, 1897, was invalid. The only references to any regular annual tax were in the minutes of the school board of Parker township, under the dates of June 19, 1897, and July 22, 1897. The minutes of June 19, 1897, after authorizing the issue of bonds proceeded as follows: "And in order to provide for principal and interest on said bonds as they become due, that we levy two (2) mills in addition to our present millage, which shall be designated as the high school building and ground tax," etc. The minute of July 22, 1897, was as follows:
Moved by Edmonds and seconded by Twaddle that the clerk be instructed to add to the minutes of June 19, 1897, after the words, "Our present millage," the words, to wit: Eight mills for ordinary school purposes, the omission of which words from said minutes was a clerical error. Vote taken. For: Heiner, Vogt, Twaddle, Hoover and Edmonds. Against: Allen.
Moved by Vogt and seconded by Twaddle that in addition to the eight mills levied for ordinary school purposes, we levy a building tax of eight mills for the current year. Vote taken. For: Vogt, Hoover, Twaddle, Heiner and Edmonds. Against: T. H. Allen.
There was nothing else on the minutes to show the levy of a regular annual tax, nor was there any extraneous evidence offered to prove that such a tax had been levied.
The court entered an injunction order in accordance with the prayer of the bill.
Error assigned was the decree of the court.
The decree of the court below is affirmed and the appeal dismissed at the cost of the appellants.
T. C. Campbell and S. F. Bowser, with them W. D. Brandon, for appellants. -- The statute was directory only as to time: Gearhart v. Dixon, 1 Pa. 224; McElhiney v. Com., 22 Pa. 367; Big Black Creek Improvement Co. v. Com., 94 Pa. 455; Parvin v. Wimberg, 130 Ind. 561.
Where the directions of a statute are given with a view to the proper, orderly and prompt conduct of business merely, the provision may be regarded as directory: Heisey v. Risser, 3 Pa. Superior Ct. 196; Cooley on Const. Lim. 77; Com. v. Griest, 196 Pa. 416; Endlich on the Interpretation of Statutes, sec. 436.
Statutes imposing public duties and fixing time of performance are generally directory: Little Beaver Township School Directors' Election, 165 Pa. 233.
The minutes of the board of June 19, 1897, as amended July 22, 1897, read: "Resolved, that we levy two (2) mills in addition to our present millage, viz: eight mills for ordinary school purposes, which shall be designated as 'the high school building and ground tax,'" etc. This was certainly a levy of eight mills for ordinary school purposes.
John M. Thompson, with him E. L. Ralston, John B. Greer and W. C. Thompson, for appellees. -- The case of Com. v. Griest, 196 Pa. 416, rules this case.
Before McCOLLUM, C.J., MITCHELL, FELL, BROWN, MESTREZAT and POTTER, JJ.
Certain citizens and taxpayers of the Parker township school district of Butler county, Pa., filed a bill in equity on August 16, 1897, alleging that a building tax of eight mills purporting to have been levied on July 22, 1897, by the board of school directors of said district, was illegal, and praying for an injunction restraining its collection.
An injunction was granted and a decree was entered upon June 4, 1900, adjudging that the school directors of Parker township be perpetually restrained from collecting the eight mill building tax, purporting to be levied on July 22, 1897.
The court below reached the conclusion that no regular tax had been levied by the school board for the year 1897, and that the minutes of the board of school directors of the township contained no record of a levy of a regular annual tax for the year 1897 for ordinary school purposes.
The court also ruled that as the act of assembly required that the determination of the amount to be levied, and the...
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