Knapp v. Charles Mix County
Knapp v. Charles Mix County
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order overruling a demurrer to a complaint in an action to cancel an assessment, and to re
Relying upon section 14 of chapter 14 of the Laws of 1891, counsel for appellants maintain that the complaint should show that plaintiff had presented the question as to the place of taxation to the state auditor, whose decision thereon would be final. As to all questions arising between counties concerning the place to list personal property for taxation, the statute provides, in effect, that the place for listing and assessing the same shall be determined and fixed by the auditor of state; but when the contention is between a county and a nonresident thereof, we are inclined to believe that appellant’s position is untenable, and not within the scope of the statute. Under section 8, Id., personal property of the character described in the complaint must be listed and assessed ip the county, town, or district where the owner or agept
Counsel’s contention that plaintiff’s exclusive, remedy was by appeal from the action of the board of county commissioners, sitting as a board of equalization, cannot be favorably entertained. Assuming, but not conceding, that a board of equalization has power and jurisdiction to cancel and declare void an entire assessment claimed to be illegal, or to refuse to take such action, that fact would not preclude a taxpayer from applying to a court of equity for protection against the seizure and sale of his personal property in satisfaction of a tax wrongfully and unlawfully levied thereon, in a county of which he was not a resident, and in which the property is presumed not to have been at the time such assessment was made. The demurrer was properly overruled, and the judgment entered therein is affirmed.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- 1. Under Section 8 Chapter 14, Laws 1891, personal property of the character and under the conditions described in the complaint must be listed and assessed in the county, town or district where the owner or agent resides. 2. A taxpayer may apply to a court of equity for protection against the seizure and sale of his personal property in satisfaction of a tax wrongfully and unlawfully levied thereon. 3. When the same personal property has been assessed in different counties for the same year, and the owner has paid the tax thereon in the county of his residence, he may maintain an action to prevent the collection of the tax assessed in another county, although the question of which is the proper county for its assessment has never been presented to the state auditor under Sec. 14, Chap.14, Laws 1891. (Syllabus by the Court.