Franzke v. Wright
Franzke v. Wright
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The plaintiff, a taxpaying freeholder of Fergus county, brought this action to restrain the county commissioners of that county from issuing and selling certain serial bonds, denominated “Funding Bonds of Fergus County High School” in the amount of $64,000. To the complaint the defendants interposed a general demurrer which being sustained plaintiff suffered judgment to go against him and appealed therefrom to this court.
The county commissioners have undertaken to issue and sell the bonds under the provisions of Chapter 129 of the 1923 Session Laws. Section 1 of that Act confers upon the board of trustees of a county high school, whenever it shall have all or part of its funds deposited in a bank which has become insolvent, power to issue warrants, to an amount not to exceed 100 per cent of the funds'deposited, for teachers’ salaries, school supplies * * * and other necessary expenses incurred
It appears from the complaint that between the first day of July, 1922, and the twenty-eighth day of February, 1924, the Fergus county high school had on deposit in certain banks in Fergus county which had become insolvent an amount in excess of $65,389.82, and between those dates the board of trustees had issued warrants in that amount for necessary expenses incurred in the maintenance of the school. All necessary predicate steps having been taken the defendants as the county commissioners of Fergus county, by resolution duly made and entered declared that the said existing indebtedness of the high school to an amount not exceeding $64,000 should be funded by the issuance of bonds.
The plaintiff does not question the regularity of the proceedings leading up to the determination of the commissioners to ’issue and sell the bonds nor the necessity therefor, but he does challenge the right of the board to do so. He relies upon the provisions of section 4614, Revised Codes of 1921, as amended by Chapter 21 of the Laws of 1923, approved February 20, 1923, which prohibits the county commissioners from issuing any bonds which with the outstanding bonded indebtedness in the aggregate shall exceed “five per centum of the per centum of the assessed value of the property upon which taxes are levied and paid within such county, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes.” The validity of Chapter 21 was upheld in Heckman v. Custer County, ante, p. 84, 223 Pac. 916.
The judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FRANZKE v. WRIGHT
- Status
- Published