Bennett v. Vittum
Bennett v. Vittum
Opinion of the Court
It is declared in section 2 of the act approved March 31, 1926 [Ga. L. Ex. Sess. 1926, p. 65], amending the charter of the City of Adel, that whenever any of the streets shall have been authorized under the laws and ordinances to be paved, and the contract for such improvement has been let and the entire cost to the city has been ascertained, the mayor and council “shall by written resolution apportion the cost and expenses of the same pro rata per front foot to the several tracts, lots, or parcels of lands abutting upon the area covered by such proposed improvements, and shall then levy assessments against the said abutting property and the owners thereof in accordance with such apportionment and as hereinafter provided, which assessment shall be paid in ten (10) equal annual installments, and
Such assessments are not taxes within the meaning of article 7, section 2, paragraph 1, of the constitution (Code, § 2-5001), which declares: “All taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects, and ad valorem on all property subject to be taxed within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws.” Hayden v. Atlanta, 70 Ga. 817; Speer v. Athens, 85 Ga. 49 (2) (11 S. E. 802, 9 L. R. A. 402); Almand v. Pate, 143 Ga. 711 (3) (85 S. E. 909). Consequently the above-quoted provision of section 2 of the act is not violative of the foregoing provision of the constitution on the grounds, as contended, (a) that it makes the assessments for such “paving taxes” assessed “against the owner as well as the property;” (b) “it makes the assessments for said paving taxes coequal with the lien of all other taxes, and yet assesses said taxes upon only a portion of the property subject to be taxed within the territorial limits of the City of Adel;” (c) “that said act describes a method of collecting said taxes which is repugnant to the provisions of the above-mentioned section of the constitution, which provides that all taxes shall be collected pursuant to the general laws;” (d) “that said taxes are not ad valorem.”
On May 19, 1926, the mayor and council, in pursuance of sections 2 and 10 of the foregoing act, apportioned and assessed the cost of paving Fourth Street in the City of Adel against the owners of properties abutting on that street. One of the abut
Applying the foregoing principles, the court did not err in’ dismissing the action on general demurrer.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BENNETT v. VITTUM, chief of police
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published