Kinsey v. Sweeney
Kinsey v. Sweeney
Opinion of the Court
I. As we understand the abstract upon which this case is submitted for decision, the only evidence introduced upon the. trial in the court below consisted of the ordinance of the city providing for the assessment of property for taxation, and for the levy and collection of taxes, together with the record of the proceedings of the city council acting as a board of equalization, showing the proceedings complained of by plaintiff. By this action the assessments of certain tax payers were corrected by increasing the valuation of their property, among whom was plaintiff, and some property was stricken from the list, and the value of some property assessed was diminished.
II. The city of Wapello exercises municipal powers under a special charter. See Acts Eifth General Assembly, (1856,) chap. 20. This charter provides for the election of an assessor, the collection of taxes by the marshal, after notice of the assesment and levy thereof, and the correction of the assessment by the council. § § 9, 35, 36. It cannot be doubted that, under section 36, which authorizes the city council to correct assessments, it may discharge that duty by equalizing the taxes of the property owners, or, in other words, act as a board of equalization. And this, and nothing more or less, was done by the council, as is shown by the record of its proceedings before us.
III. Authority to equalize assessments for taxation, conferred by the charter upon the city, is not taken away by subsequent legislation. Chap. 99, Acts of the Seventeenth General Assembly (Miller’s Code, p. 206) empowers any city acting under special charter to provide by ordinance for the collection of its taxes by the county treasurer, the county auditor being required, in such ease, to enter the taxes, in accord with the levy made by the city and its assessment roll, upon the county tax books. A prior statute (§ 16, chap. 116, Acts Sixteenth General Assembly — -Miller’s Code, p, 145) authorizes cities organized by special charter to empower officers, other than those designated in these charters, to collect
As we have before intimated, no question arises as to the authority of the assessor making the assessment in question. The State v. Finger, 46 Iowa, 25, cited by plaintiff’s counsel, has no bearing upon this case. The judgment of the circuit court must be
Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.