Spaulding v. Wickham
Spaulding v. Wickham
Opinion of the Court
The defendant in error brought suit in the common pleas court asking that the county treasurer be enjoined from collecting taxes assessed against his land. The common pleas court enjoined the collection, and that judgment was affirmed by the court of appeals.
Plaintiff contended in his petition and in argument that the method of assessment was unjust, and that such resurfacing assessments should have been distributed according to the method of making the
The real question in the case is stated by defendant in error, as shown by the record, as follows: ‘ ‘ Must the landowners of that township, and especially those abutting upon the road, keep the road in good repair for public travel? Is that equitable and legal? Second, if the landowners of that township, and in the limits of the whole district, are required to keep the roads in repair for public travel, must it be by those owning lands that are benefited by it, or those that abut upon it only ?”
We agree with the defendant in error that there are many cases, and this may be one, where the method of assessment may be unjust. The repair, at the cost of the abutting owners, of a public highway subject to heavy traffic, requiring frequent resurfacing to keep it in condition for travel, may prove to be inequitable in many cases, especially if the cost of repair should be heavy and frequent; but this is a question of policy which the legislature has left to the board of county commissioners for its exercise. This court cannot control the discretion of the county commissioners in choosing the method by which these assessments will be made. Section 6910, General Code, provides that the county commissioners may take the necessary steps to improve or repair a public road, or part thereof, upon the passage of a resolution by unanimous vote declaring the necessity
Section 6919, General Code, provides that the cost of the improvement may be “assessed against the real estate abutting upon said improvement,” as was done in this ease. It is true it may also be assessed against real estate within one-half mile, or within one mile of the improvement, according to the discretion of the county commissioners; but the law as it now exists fully empowers them with discretion to select the method of assessment. To hold otherwise would be judicial legislation and nothing more.
Notice of this improvement was published in August, 1919, as required by statute, and an opportunity given to present objections thereto to the board of county commissioners. However, none was pi'esented. The petition asking relief against the assessments was not filed until November, 1920. Had the petitioner presented his objections to the board of county commissioners under the statute, he might possibly have obtained the relief which he now asks this court to award him.
The judgments of the lower courts are reversed, and judgment will be entered in favor of the plaintiff in error.
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Spaulding, Treasurer v. Wickham
- Status
- Published