Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Ensley
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Ensley
Opinion of the Court
Six divisions of the appellant’s railroad run through the city of Indianapolis. In doing so, some of them pass through Center township and some through "Wayne township in Marion county. The proper officer of appellant
It appears that as a result of these errors the city received, on a distribution of the taxes paid by appellant on its property in the county, several hundred dollars more than it was legally entitled to, had no mistake been made in the description of its property in its schedules, and that appellant paid in taxes more than it would have been legally liable for, had said mistakes not been made.
In December, 1896, the' appellee, as treasurer of Marion county, assuming that by virtue of his office he had authority so to do, placed on the tax duplicate of said county a special assessment of taxes against the appellant’s property, for
This suit was instituted by the appellant to enjoin appellee from enforcing the assessment of said special assessment of taxes. The question was put at issue, a trial was had, a finding made against appellant, its motion for a new trial overruled, and judgment rendered against it on the finding.
The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding is the question presented by this appeal. The only evidence introduced consisted of an agreement of the facts, which are substantially as set forth. It is the contention of the appellee that the appellant, upon the state of facts exhibited by the evidence, has no standing in court, for the reasons: (1) That the facts show that for eight-tenths of a mile of its road, within the limits of the city of Indianapolis, which was erroneously described in the schedules of its property, filed with the county auditor and the Auditor of State, as being located in Center township, it is justly and legally liable to the city of Indianapolis for city taxes for all the years named in the special assessment, and that mere irregularity in the steps taken to enforce it will not afford grounds for a suit in equity to enjoin the collection of the tax. (2) That appellant has a complete remedy at law for all relief it is entitled to, under the facts shown, by an application to the county board for refunding of the taxes erroneously paid by it to
There is no warrant in the law for the action of the taxing officers in placing on the tax duplicate a special assessment against appellant’s property. Neither the auditor nor the treasurer has anything whatever to do with the assessment of taxes against the property of railroad companies of the character of the one here involved.
This question is thoroughly settled in the recent well-considered case of Baltimore, etc., R. Co. v. Oregon Tp. (1908), 170 Ind. 300, where the question arose over a claim presented by the railroad company against Oregon township for the repayment of taxes which had been paid by the company and distributed to Oregon township, on account of a similar mistake in its schedules, in which a certain part of the company’s road, which was in fact located in another township, was erroneously described as being in said Oregon township, and where the auditor of the county, upon learning of such mistake, assumed the authority, as the appellee and the county auditor of Marion county did in this case, to make a special assessment of the misdescribed piece of the road as omitted property, and placed the same upon the tax duplicate as being in the township in which it was actually located, and which special assessment of taxes the company paid. In deciding the case, the court said: “It is not for the county
And so here, neither the auditor nor the treasurer had any authority whatever to make a readjustment of the assessments made by the State Board of Tax Commissioners. The action of such board in the matter is conclusive, though made upon an erroneous return.
It is insisted that the case of Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Town of Waynetown (1899), 153 Ind. 550, is an authority sustaining appellee’s contention that the city is entitled to the tax upon the alleged omitted eight-tenths of a mile of appellant’s track, erroneously described in the schedule as being located in Center township. If this were conceded, the authority of the case just cited would be annulled, by the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Baltimore, etc., R. Co. v. Oregon, supra, but there is a very clear distinction between the case of Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Town of Waynetown, supra, and the one here presented. In the ease last cited the decision of the court was predicated upon the lack of equity in the taxpayer’s case. It was there shown that the plaintiff’s road ran through the incorporated town of Wayne-town, and that the railroad property was liable for taxes for town purposes, that it had paid no town taxes, and it was held by the court that for the reason that the company had paid no taxes to the town, it had no standing in court to complain of the irregularity in the proceedings of the town, by which its property was placed upon the tax duplicate of the town. While here, it appears that the defendant railroad company has paid all taxes legally assessed against it,
Judgment reversed, with instructions to grant a new trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company v. Ensley, Treasurer
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- Published