140 Mich. 427 | Mich. | 1905
On the presentation of the usual petition for the sale of land in the county of Bay, certain owners of land objected to decrees against their lands for 'taxes; various grounds of objection being argued, and numerous alleged errors in the proceedings antedating the auditor general’s petition being urged.
Before discussing such of these as affect the vital question — i. e., whether these lands are subject to the assessment made — it is proper to reiterate what we have held in numerous cases: In these proceedings the fact that irregularities may be discovered in the proceedings furnishes no obstacle to enforcing the State’s lien for a tax equitably due to the State, and chargeable to the land sought to be
One of the complaints made is that the certificate of equalization attached to the various tax rolls was not signed by the clerk of the board of supervisors, but was signed by the chairman alone. If the record of the board of supervisors shows that the assessments of the various assessing districts were properly equalized and the taxes were properly apportioned, it is not seen how the omission of this formality affects the equitable obligation of these contestants to pay this tax. It is contended, however, that there was no proper equalization. This was the year of the State equalization, and an attempted equalization was made in July. If regular, and if said equalization stands unaffected by the subsequent action of the State tax commission — a question which will be later discussed —the necessity for an additional equalization at the October session is obviated. Act No. 361, Local Acts of 1897; Silsbee v. Stockle, 44 Mich. 565; Boyce v. Sebring, 66 Mich. 210.
The contestants claim that this equalization in July was invalid, for the reason that the cities of Bay City and West Bay City were each treated as the unit for equalization, whereas (it is contended), the equalization should have been by wards and townships; citing, in support of this claim, Messenger v. Peter, 129 Mich. 93. In that case it was held that the statute which requires the board to examine the assessment rolls of the several townships,
It is insisted, however, that the case of Silsbee v. Stockle should not rule this case, for the reason that the State tax commission, after the July equalization, and prior to the October session, made certain additions to the assessment rolls of some of the assessment districts, and that it is not to be presumed that the board, with information of this action before it, would have fixed the same figures in October. These changes in the assessments might, it is true, have challenged the attention of the supervisors to the subject, but the board was in no way bound by the figures of the State tax commission in making its equalization. The board rested content with its July action— in fact, affirmed it in a way claimed by contestants to be informal. It is enough, within the rule of Silsbee v. Stockle, that it was allowed to stand.
Another objection interposed was that taxable property to the amount of $1,098,105 had been added to the assessment rolls of certain townships and Bay City and West Bay City, and that these added assessments were not taken into account in making the apportionment of taxes. Section 3860, 1 Comp. Laws, contemplates a computation of the personal assessments in October, and that the apportionment shall be made on the basis of the aggregate real and personal assessment as determined by the board. This determination was made in October, but the board, in making up its figures, used the assessments of personal property as they appeared on the original rolls. This was a mistake in the performance of a ministerial duty. Fay
To the extent to which contestants’ taxes have been increased by reason of this error, it would seem that they may have their tax abated under section 76 of the tax law (1 Comp. Laws, § 3899). It is equally clear that where no injury resulted, as in Bay City, the contestants ■are not in a position to. complain.
The decree is reversed, and a decree will be entered in accordance with this opinion.