Brannan v. Schartzer
Brannan v. Schartzer
Opinion of the Court
This action is brought by Harvey J.‘ Brannan, treasurer of Williams county, to enforce a lien for taxes and penalty against the property of the defendant, Frank Schartzer.- In July, 1914, Frank Schartzer pleaded guilty to two indictments charging him with violating certain liquor laws. Fines aggregating $460 were imposed upon him and he was sentenced to thirty days in jail.
Thereafter, by direction of the auditor of state, the county auditor placed upon the liquor traffic
On trial in the common pleas court the petition of the plaintiff was dismissed and a finding and decree entered in favor of the loan company and other cross-petitioners and defendants.
There are few disputed facts arising in this case, and there does not appear to be any question as to the priority of the several liens except as to the lien for the Dow-Aiken tax. It is an undisputed fact that at the time of the alleged illegal
It is contended, in the first instance, that no assessment under the Dow-Aiken law can be lawfully levied upon the business of trafficking in intoxicating liquors in a dry county, and that for this reason there is and can be no lien upon the property of the defendant Schartzer because of the attempt to'make such levy. Section 6071, General Code, .provides that there shall be assessed yearly the sum of $1,000 upon the business of trafficking in intoxicating liquors. The law is stated in plain language and makes no exceptions because of the place or the manner in which such business is conducted. Wherever in the state of Ohio such business is carried on, the law provides that the sum of $1,000 shall be assessed upon the business. To hold that this act does not apply to such business when conducted in dry territory would be to read into the statute an exception that is not found therein.
This question, however, is no longer open to discussion, as the supreme court has directly passed upon it in Burrell v. Holtz, Treas., et al., 84 Ohio St., 497. We have been furnished with certified copies of the proceedings in the court of- common pleas and circuit court and a copy of the journal entry in the supreme court. The identical question was raised in that case and the supreme court held that such assessment might be imposed upon the business when conducted in so-called dry territory. The supreme court decision affirmed, without opinion, the judgment of the circuit court on
Counsel for defendants contend that the supreme court reached a different conclusion in the case of Remick, Auditor, et al. v. Haas, 85 Ohio St., 466, which was an affirmance without opinion. That case was considered by the circuit court on two different occasions. The opinion on the first consideration of the case is reported in Haas v. Remick, Auditor, et al., 13 C. C., N. S., 1, and was rendered in March, 1910. The decision there rendered was upon a demurrer to the petition. In the common pleas court a demurrer to the petition had been sustained and the plaintiff not desiring to plead further, final judgment was entered in that court and the cause appealed to the circuit court. Upon appeal, the circuit court overruled the demurrer and no final judgment was then entered in that court. In the course of the opinion of the circuit court upon their determining the question presented by the demurrer, that court did reach a conclusion contrary to that announced by the supreme court in Burrell v. Holtz, Treas., et al., supra. Thereafter, in September, 1910, the cause came on for further hearing before the circuit court, when the case was disposed of upon grounds other than those mentioned in the opinion on the demurrer. The supreme court affirmed this last judgment. It can not be said, therefore, that the affirmance of this decision by the supreme court is in conflict with the decision of the supreme court in Burrell v. Holtz, Treas., et al., supra.
It is argued that the decisions above cited were
It is next urged that even if the assessment does constitute a lien upon the property, it is a lien subsequent to that of the mortgages to The Home Savings, Loan & Building Association. This question has been decided adversely -to the claims of the loan company in the case of the The Pioneer Trust Co. v. Stick et al., 71 Ohio St., 459. The tax and assessment liens will be paid from the proceeds of the sale of the property as provided in Section 2670,' General Code.
It is further urged that the lien does not properly attach to more than that portion of the property owned by the defendant Schartzer, úpon which the building stands in which the illegal sales took place. The evidence discloses that the entire premises described in the petition constitutes a single piece of property and that there is no part
The limits of an opinion preclude the discussion in detail of the many other questions raised on this hearing. We have considered all the questions and have reached the conclusion indicated in this opinion.
A decree may be drawn in favor of the plaintiff, placing upon the tax duplicate such assessment as will correctly represent the time during which the premises were used for the sale of intoxicants, as provided by law, this amount to be determined by counsel and the auditor in the drawing of the journal .entry. The cause will be remanded to the common pleas court for the purpose of carrying into effect the decree drawn in accordance with the foregoing opinion.
Decree for plaintiff.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Brannan, Treas. v. Schartzer
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published