28 Cal. 449 | Cal. | 1865
By the Court,
The County of Amador having been organized out of territory before constituting a part of the County of Calaveras, the Legislature in 1855 passed an Act appointing Commissioners for the purpose, and authorizing them to ascertain the amount of indebtedness of the County of Calaveras at the time-of the establishment of the new County of Amador, and to determine the amount of said indebtedness to be paid by the said County of Amador to the County of Calaveras.
Sections nine and ten of the Act are as follows:
“ Sec. 9. The Board of Supervisors of Amador County are hereby authorized and required to assess a special tax of thirty cents on the hundred dollars on all taxable property of said county, to create a ‘ Sinking Fund ’ for the liquidation of said debt; said tax to be collected at the time and in th,e same manner as other county taxes; and said Supervisors are required to set apart from the ‘ General Funds ’ of said county a sum,*452 which, added to the ‘ Special Fund,’ shall be equal in amount to the one half of the entire ‘ General Fund ’ of said county; which ‘fund’ the Treasurer of Amador County is required to set apart and reserve for the payment of said indebtedness of Amador County to Calaveras County, when ascertained in the manner above prescribed; which said ‘ fund ’ shall be appropriated to no other purpose than the extinguishment of said indebtedness; and the creation of which said ‘ fund ’ shall continue until said indebtedness be declared, and until an amount equal to said indebtedness shall be set apart and reserved by said Treasurer as aforesaid.”
“Sec. 10. When the amount of said indebtedness of Amador County to Calaveras County shall have been determined by said Commissioners, they shall certify the same to the Auditor of said County of Amador, who, immediately on the receipt of such certificate, shall draw his warrant or order on the Treasurer of said County of Amador, in favor of the said County of Calaveras, for the amount of said indebtedness, as certified by said Commissioners ; which warrant or order shall state upon its face that it is for the indebtedness due from the County of Amador to the County of Calaveras, as determined by the Commissioners appointed by and under the provisions of this Act; and which said warrant or order shall be delivered by said Auditor to the Treasurer of Calaveras County, and shall be paid by the Treasurer of Amador County out of the funds or moneys required to be set apart and reserved according to the ninth section of this Act.”
The Commissioners in pursuance of the provisions of the Act ascertained the indebtedness, and determined that Amador County should pay to Calaveras County the sum of twenty-six thousand five hundred and seventeen dollars and thirty-two cents, for which amount the proper warrant was drawn, in pursuance of the Act, on the Treasurer of Amador County, and delivered to the Treasurer of Calaveras County. The latter immediately presented the warrant to the Treasurer of Amador County for payment, and the fund providéd by law
There is no express contract to pay interest, and no rule of law independent of statutory provisions that would require interest to be paid. Ho statutory provision imposing an obligation upon the County of Amador to pay interest on the warrant in question has been brought to our notice, unless it is found in the Act of March 27,Ih, 1850, “ concerning the office of County Treasurer.” Section ten of that Act provides, that when a warrant is “ not paid for want of funds,” an indorsement to that effect shall be made thereon, and from the date of such indorsement till redeemed said warrant shall bear ten per cent per annum interest. Subsequent sections provide for payment of such warrants upon notice to be given
The claim in question was one of an equitable nature, of imperfect obligation upon the County of Amador, arising, not upon contract between the two counties, but out of the legislation of the State in dividing the County of Calaveras, and which required further legislation to ripen it into a legal liability, and enable the County of Calaveras to enforce it against the County of Amador. The Legislature recognized the equitable character of the claim, and provided means for ascertaining the amount of the indebtedness of Calaveras County, at the time of the division, and the proportion that ought to be paid by the new County of Amador; and imposed the payment of that portion, when it should be ascertained, upon the said county. When this proportion so equitably due and required to be paid was ascertained, the amount became the exact measure of the liability thus imposed—this amount became the “indebtedness of Amador County” mentioned in the Act. The warrant was to- be drawn “ for the amount of said indebtedness, as certified by the Commissioners.” A special tax was authorized “ to create a Sinking Fund for the liquidation of said debt” * * * * “which fund the Treasurer of Amador County is required to set apart and reserve for the payment of said indebtedness of Amador County to Calaveras County, iohen ascertained in the manner above prescribed.” And
We think it was not contemplated that the indebtedness should bear interest. The judgment must therefore be reversed and the District Court directed to deny the mandate, and it is so ordered.