102 P.2d 287 | Idaho | 1940
Lead Opinion
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *365
Plaintiffs, respectively Ada County and individual taxpayers residing therein, challenge by original writ of review (writ granted, Ada County v. Bottolfsen, ante, p. 64,
In limine and so far as the latter contention is concerned if and so far as the assessment by the state board is less than the full, true and correct valuation of said property should have been, relief is to be had at the hands of the state board by an increase in the valuation of the said property as reflected in the value of the mass of operating property belonging to intervenors throughout the state. In other words, if the parcels of land herein are operating property their under valuation by the state board would not be justification for assessment other than by the state board.
The state board of equalization is a constitutional board. (Art. 7, sec. 12.) The assessor is a constitutional officer. (Art. 18, sec. 6.) Thus of equal constitutional creation and authority whose duties are equally to be prescribed by the legislature. (Art. 7, sec. 12, art. 18, sec. 11.)
In territorial days certain property of railroads was assessed by the territorial board of equalization and other property by the county assessors. (Statutes of 1887, sec. 1463.)
The line of demarcation and definition of what constitutes property to be assessed by the territorial or state board of equalization as distinguished from that to be assessed by *367
the county assessors has varied without uniformity or continuity of definition from time to time. (1893 Sess. Laws, p. 75, sec. 9 of the act there set forth; 1895 Sess. Laws, p. 114, sec. 1490; 1899 Sess. Laws, p. 254, sec. 16; 1901 Sess. Laws, p. 257, sec. 74; secs.
With the exception of three parcels of land which are vacant, unoccupied lots adjoining intervenors' right of way in Boise City, Ada County, 17 parcels involved are leased under or for a term of years to various coal, seed and lumber concerns; and one parcel to the United States Reclamation Service, one to a general contracting concern, and one to a stage company.
All leased parcels have erected thereon structures used for warehouse and storage purposes by said concerns. The buildings are assessed by Ada County to the lessees. The courts have recognized and sanctioned the assessment of buildings separate and apart from the land on which they are situated under similar circumstances. (Third Broadway Bldg. Co. v. SouthernCalifornia Edison Co.,
None of interveners' tracks are on these parcels of land though immediately adjacent thereto and intervenors' cars are unloaded directly into these structures. Other than certain restrictive provisions in the said leases that said properties must be used only for storage purposes and must not be illegally used, said intervenors have no control over said premises while used and occupied by said lessees. Six of said parcels since 1917 have been returned by said intervenors to the state board of equalization as in effect part and parcel of the original right of way and terminal grounds in Boise City; the other parcels were originally contained in a so-called "citizens' right-of-way" extending roughly east and *368
west and parallel to intervenors' right of way through Boise City and beyond. Said citizens' right-of-way having been originally acquired by a number of citizens of Boise and thereafter held for prospective railroad purposes. 1923 said citizens' right-of-way was sold to intervenors in connection with its construction through Boise City of its so-called "main line," said intervenor Oregon Short Line Railroad previously serving Boise by a branch line from Nampa, the junction with the main line east and west through Idaho. (In re Sherman v.Citizens' Right of Way Co.,
While it is contended the above case approving and ratifying said sale, by implication, if not directly classified said citizens' right-of-way as operating property within the meaning of the above sections of the code, said case did not so decide or determine.
Oregon Short Line Railroad Co. v. Yeats,
"We hold in this case that the right of way, track, whether main, side, or turnouts, and all improvements and super-structures upon the right of way, and rolling stock are under the statute, to be assessed by the state board of equalization, and all other property of railroad companies is to be assessed, under the statute, by county assessors."
Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul Ry. Co. v. Kootenai County,
In a controversy between intervenors herein and appellant county the federal court (Oregon Short Line R. Co. v. AdaCounty, 18 Fed. Supp. 842) construed the above decisions as authorizing the assessment by the state board of this property as terminal facilities.
City of Pocatello v. Ross,
Thus none of the previous decisions of this court have passed upon the question now before us. (Oregon Short Line R. Co. v.Ada County, 18 Fed. Supp., supra, was sustained by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Ada County v. Oregon Short Line R. Co.,
In the statute as originally passed by the 1913 legislature, now section
Section
The difficulty presented herein arises by the fact that the phrases, clauses, and terminology of sections
Separating section
If number 1 means what it says and is construed literally all immovable property owned by any railroad is operating property and the balance of said section is rendered meaningless. One construction of said section would be that number 1 is modified by 2, 3, and 4; that is, operating property includes (1 A) all immovable property owned and used by any railroad; (1 B) all immovable property owned and occupied by any railroad; (1 C) all immovable property owned and operated in connection with any railroad. What hinders this construction is that "or" and not "and" is the conjunction used.
Segregations 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 as contradistinguished from the above include all other immovable property not necessarilyowned by said railroad but operated or occupied by said railroad as lessee or otherwise and reasonably necessary to the maintenance of said road or line or in connection with its business. The word "owner" in the last line of said section as originally drawn thus either applies to all clauses or only to 1, 2, 3, 4, and
The first series of clauses in section
The context thus militates against the idea that the operation must be by the owner both because the word "by" does not precede the clause in the first part of section
Section
"The State Board of Equalization is a constitutional board, clothed by statutory authority with quasi-judicial powers in regard to the assessment of certain classes and kinds of property. It is given the power exclusively, and it is required, to value and assess the properties of public utilities. It has the right to exercise a fair discretion in expressing its judgment as to the valuation of such property, and when it has once acted, and there is no fraud shown in its judgment, its action is not subject to review." (NorthwestLight etc. Co. v. Alexander,
True the above was said with relation to valuing but the board must first determine what to value. The construction evidently placed on the section by the state board of equalization is not unreasonable, ungrammatical nor contrary to the syntax thereof.
Turning to section
As pointed out in Ada County v. Oregon Short Line R. Co.,supra, these structures are used, as between the railroad and the lessees, the same as though they were owned by the railroad and charges were made to the lessees for storage therein. It is likewise true they are used by the lessees the same as any warehouse in the city adjacent to intervenors tracks. By section
It is urged that section
Six of these properties have been assessed by the state board since 1917 and the balance have been so assessed since 1925 following the acquisition of the citizens' right-of-way by the intervenors in 1923, without challenge by the county except a prospective suit in 1925 prosecution of which was abandoned upon an opinion by the attorney general of the state upholding the right of the state board to assess (Ada County v. OregonShort Line R. Co., supra) and the present action commenced in 1935.
The court may take judicial notice of the fact that the Reclamation Service is not engaged in business or mercantile pursuits as are the other concerns leasing the lands involved herein. There is not, therefore, such connection between *374 the Reclamation Service and the railroad "in conducting its business" as justifies the assessment by the state board of the lands leased to the Reclamation Service.
The vacant lots herein were acquired in 1923 and the fact that they have not been used for any purpose by the railroad sufficiently negatives their classification as present terminal facilities under the rule laid down in Chicago, Milwaukee St.Paul R. Co. v. Kootenai County, supra, assessable by the state board.
As to the balance of the parcels of land plaintiffs cite cases1 which hold under statutes not as minute or detailed as ours and not containing the phrases and clauses enumerated above, and on various grounds, that lands leased by the railroad to and used by private parties for storage and warehouse purposes were not operating properties under the particular statutes. Other cases2 have held to the contrary.
As indicated above no constitutional question is presented, it is merely a question of legislative intent. With respect to such situation this court early announced and has consistently adhered to the rule that a construction, given a statute susceptible of various constructions, by the executive and administrative officers of the state is entitled to great weight and will be followed by the courts unless there are cogent reasons for change. (State v. Omaechevviaria,
Between 1917 and 1935 the legislature met seven times and is presumed to know that the state board of equalization was assessing this property in the manner now challenged, but did not indicate such method was contrary to the statute. Between 1925 and 1935 the legislature met four times without resultant rebuke. In the absence of pursued court action the county assessors must be considered to have acquiesced in the construction placed on the statute by the state board.
It does not seem the construction given the statute by the state board for such length of time and not refuted by the county assessors is so clearly wrong as to require its overthrow now.
No question of exemption is involved.
Plaintiffs' prayer that the order of the state board be vacated and set aside is denied, except as to the land leased to the Reclamation Service and vacant lots. These are to be assessed by the county assessor, not the state board.
Ailshie, C.J., and Budge, J., concur.
Dissenting Opinion
Three sections of the statute having a direct bearing on the question before us, are:
§
§
61-601 , designating the property which shall be assessed by the state board of equalization; and,§
61-603 , designating the property to be assessed by the county assessor.
These sections were originally a part of 1913 Sess. Laws, chapter 58, were enacted at the same time, with respect to the same subject matter, and are, therefore, in pari materia and must be construed together. (Achenbach v. Kincaid,
(
(
In Peavy v. McCombs,
"The rule that statutes in part materia should be construed together applies with peculiar force to statutes passed at the same session of the legislature; they are to be construed together, and should be so construed, if possible, as to harmonize and give force and effect to the provisions of each. *377 If, however, they are necessarily inconsistent, the statute which deals with the common subject matter in a more minute and particular way will prevail over a statute of a more general nature. These rules are so well established as to neither require nor justify any citations of authorities in support of them."
That case is cited in Koelsch v. Girard,
Applying that rule of construction to the sections of the statute under consideration, it will be observed that section
The sections of the code applicable to this case, when read and construed together, as required by the well established rules of statutory construction, and as above set forth, leave no doubt of the legislative intention that the county assessor should assess the property involved herein. Where the meaning of a statute is clear, as is that here under consideration, to apply to it the rule that executive construction, long acquiesced in, is binding on and will be followed by the courts, is to hold that long continued or repeated violations of the law have the effect of amending it to conform to the violations.
The order of the state board of equalization should be vacated and set aside. *378
Dissenting Opinion
Plaintiffs challenge the jurisdiction of the board to assess the property in question on the ground it is non-operating property. This court held in Lansdon v. State Board ofCanvassers,
"A 'writ of review' brings up the record of the tribunal, board, or body whose acts are to be examined, and is issued for the purpose of reviewing the law applicable to the case, instead of examining the facts of the case, except in so far as an examination of the facts is necessary in the determination of the single question of jurisdiction. The purpose of the review is to determine primarily the law applicable to the case, rather than facts of the case."
Section
"The operating property of all railroads, . . . . wholly or partly within this state, shall be assessed for taxation for state . . . . purposes, exclusively by the state board of equalization."
In Ada County et al. v. Bottolfsen, Governor, et al., ante, p. 64,
"Under the provisions of that section the board has the power to and must determine whether property is, or is not, used in the operation of a railroad and whether property is, or is not, within the definition of Section
In support of its jurisdiction to assess the board pleaded its record as follows: *379
Boise, Idaho August 14, 1939
The annual meeting of the State Board of Equalization convened in a regular session in the Governor's office at 10.00 o'clock A. M. on the above named date. All members and the Secretary were present as follows:
Governor C.A. Bottolfsen, Chairman T.W. Taylor, Attorney General Mrs. Myrtle Enking, Treasurer George Curtis, Secretary of State Calvin E. Wright, Auditor Byron Defenbach, Secretary.
. . . .
A petition prepared by Willis C. Moffatt, attorney for certain taxpayers and filed on their behalf, was presented to the Board. The petition involved the question of taxation on certain lands which the Oregon Short Line Railroad Co. desires to retain utility assessment; the petitioners asking that part of said property be assessed locally. No discussion and no action taken.
. . . .
No further business to be considered, the Governor asked the meeting be recessed until 10.00 o'clock A. M. Tuesday, August 15th. There being no objection, the session adjourned by unanimous consent until time and date suggested by Governor Bottolfsen.
ATTEST: (signed) BYRON DEFENBACH Secretary
APPROVED: (signed) C.A. BOTTOLFSEN Chairman
. . . .
The meeting was called to order in the Chamber of the House of Representatives at 10.00 o'clock A. M., with Governor Bottolfsen presiding. *380
. . . .
Mr. Maurice H. Greene and Mr. Willis C. Moffatt, attorneys, appeared for Ada County and certain Boise taxpayers, asking a change in classification of real property and buildings constructed on Citizen's right-of-way. Counsel for the Union Pacific answered the complaint. The Governor stated that the Board would take the matter under advisement and render an opinion later.
. . . .
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned until 10.00 o'clock Friday morning, August 18th.
ATTEST: (signed) BYRON DEFENBACH Secretary
APPROVED: (signed) C.A. BOTTOLFSEN Chairman
. . . .
Eleventh Day August 25, 1939
The Board met in executive session in the Governor's office at 9:30 A. M., with all members present. The Board took into consideration the matter of the various railroad companies, fixing their final assessment for the year 1939 as follows:
Oregon Short Line Railroad Company and Ore- gon Washington R. R. and N. Co..........$51,774,222.00
. . . .
In each case motion was regularly made and seconded, the question put by the Chairman and carried unanimously.
The Board spent the rest of the day in discussion of the various valuations but made no final decisions. At 4:30 P. M., recess was taken until Saturday morning, August 26th, at 9:30 in the Governor's office.
ATTEST: (signed) BYRON DEFENBACH Secretary
APPROVED: (signed) C.A. BOTTOLFSEN Chairman."
While it was alleged in the application (Ada County v.Bottolfsen, supra) and therefore recited in the opinion that *381
the board assessed the several tracts of land described in such application, its record shows the board made only a final assessment in the sum of $51,744,222, but upon what particular property does not appear. Even though Ada County had not filed a petition with the board August 14, 1939, requesting it to refrain from assessing these tracts, the board would have levied the final assessment against the Short Line, just as it did against the property of other railroads not involved in this controversy. Bearing that in mind and also that the record shows the chairman "stated that the Board would take the matter [assessing the property described in the Ada County petition filed August 14, 1939] under advisement and render an opinion later," it is evident the board intended and fully understood it was necessary to "render an opinion" as to whether the property in question was or was not operating property of the Short Line, but overlooked the matter of determining that question. But whether the board overlooked determining the question or concluded it was unnecessary, the above-quoted record clearly shows it did not determine the property in question was operating property, nor did it determine such property was necessary to the maintenance and operation of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company in the conduct of its business. Not having done that, the entry of a final assessment against the property of the Short Line was premature in so far as it could be said to affect the property in question here. Substantially the same situation arose in Stearns v. Graves etal., ante, p. 232,
This court held in Orr v. State Board of Equalization,
"The State Board of Equalization, in exercising the functions conferred upon it by law, is exercising judicial functions." *382
(See, also, North West Light etc. Co. v. Alexander,
The board, sitting as a constitutional tax-assessing tribunal, has exclusive original jurisdiction to determine whether property is operating property and necessary to the maintenance and operation of a railroad. In other words, the board has exclusive original jurisdiction to determine any and all controversies between, for instance, a railroad and a county (as in the case at bar), as to whether property is non-operating property and therefore assessable by a county, or operating property, and, consequently, not assessable by a county. In the controversy before the board, brought here for review, the question was squarely presented as to whether the property described in Ada County's petition was or was not operating property of the Short Line. In that controversy the board was sitting as a constitutional tax-assessing tribunal. As such tribunal it was its duty to decide the controversy.
As we held in Ada County v. Bottolfsen, supra, "if the Board determines the property is 'operating property' within the definition of the statute, then, and in that case and in that case only, it has power to assess it." In other words, where, as in the instant case, a county claims the right to assess railroad property on the ground it is non-operating property and that the state board of equalization is therefore without jurisdiction to assess it, the board must first determine the character of the property. If it determines the property is operating property, then it may assess; otherwise not.
Of course, this constitutional tax-assessing tribunal (state board of equalization) is not required to render its decision with all the precision and detail of a court of equity (for instance, make findings of fact and conclusions of law). In fact, it is not required to render judgment at all, as courts do. It may employ any method of determining a tax controversy it chooses, — for example, an order, or an appropriate resolution — the method usually employed by boards. No order or resolution having been entered by the board determining the controversy between the Short Line and Ada County, it follows this matter should be remanded with directions to the board to do so, in that this court cannot, *383 in the first instance, decide the controversy — the statute vests original jurisdiction in and makes it the duty of the board to first determine whether property is, or is not, operating property.