Wells v. Board of Ed. of Menifee County

• Citation: 244 S.W.2d 160
• Parties: WELLS, Sheriff v. BOARD of EDUCATION of MENIFEE COUNTY et al.
• Decision Date: 06 December 1951
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 160

244 S.W.2d 160

WELLS, Sheriff v. BOARD of EDUCATION of MENIFEE COUNTY et al.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Dec. 6, 1951.

J. A. Richards and Daniel W. Doggett, Jr., of Owingsville, for appellant.

Lewis A. White, Mt. Sterling, for appellee.

CULLEN, Commissioner.

In an action against the sheriff of Menifee County, the board of education of the county sought a declaration as to the amount of compensation to which the sheriff was entitled for collecting the school taxes for the year 1950. The circuit court fixed the amount at $750. The sheriff has appealed, claiming that the amount is too low, and the board of education has cross-appealed, contending that the amount is too high.

In Dickson v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 311 Ky. 781, 225 S.W.2d 672, this court held that a sheriff's compensation for collecting school taxes could not exceed the reasonable cost of collection, and that the four percent fee fixed by KRS 160.500 could be allowed only where the reasonable cost of collection justified the allowance of the maximum fee. The same holding was made in Board of Education of Madison County v. Wagers, Ky., 239 S.W.2d 48.

The parties in this case recognize that the Dickson and Wagers cases are controlling, and the only issue in this case is one of fact as to the reasonable cost of collecting the 1950 school taxes in Menifee County.

Menifee County is a poor county, from the standpoint of tax revenues. The tax collections for 1950 were as follows: State, $1,440; county, $13,709; school, $39,812.

The sheriff did not employ any deputies and all taxes were collected by him, except that occasionally, when he was absent from his office, the county judge would accept payments from the taxpayers who came to the courthouse. The sheriff had no expenses for supplies and equipment except a negligible sum for pencils and ink.

The circuit court decided that a competent clerk capable for collecting taxes could have been employed at a salary of $150 per month; that the tax collection duties would have required full time work for four months and half time work for six months, or the equivalent of seven months full time; that on this basis the cost of collecting all taxes would be $1050; that the school taxes represented approximately 72 percent of the total tax collections; and that, apportioning the cost of collection on a percentage basis, the reasonable cost of collecting the school taxes was $750.

We are of the opinion that the proper basis for determining the cost of collection in this particular case, where the sheriff did the work himself and did not employ a deputy, is the reasonable value of the time required to be expended by the sheriff in collecting the taxes. Having in mind that the sheriff is an elected public officer, and that the integrity, judgment and responsibility required of him are elements to be considered in determining the value of his services, we believe that the value of his services should not be limited to the sum at which a competent clerk could have been hired.

In endeavoring to fix a standard for measuring the value of the services of the sheriff, a number of factors must be taken into consideration. The office is a responsible one, involving many varied duties, such as enforcing the law, collecting taxes, assisting in the conduct of elections, and serving the courts. In many counties of Kentucky...