65 P. 149 | Ariz. | 1901
On the twenty-seventh day of July, 1899, the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company filed in the district court of the first judicial district in and for the county of Cochise an application for a writ of certiorari to review the action of the board of equalization of Cochise County in the matter of the assessment of the property of the said company, alleged to have been had on the twelfth day of July, 1899. The writ was issued on July 27, 1899, and was worded in part as follows:
“To the Board of Equalization, Cochise County, Arizona: You are hereby commanded to certify fully to the district court of the first judicial district, . . . and annex to this writ a transcript of the record and proceedings of said board, . . . and also a full, true, and correct transcript of the.minutes of the board of equalization in the matter of the. assessment of the property of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, . . . and also a transcript of any other action or proceeding of said board on or before July 12, 1899, in relation to the assessment of the property of said corporation, that the same may be reviewed by this court; and in the mean time you are required and commanded to desist from further proceedings in the matter to be reviewed in relation to the increased assessment made by you on the twelfth day of July, 1899, to wit: Bisbee, Copper Queen Consolidated Mining and Smelter Company were raised as follows on their assessment. Doctor’s office, ete. (list as contained in return). And until the hearing and determination of said matters and proceed
The board filed a sworn return to the writ on the twenty-fourth day of November, 1899, of which the following is a partial copy:
“Territory of Arizona, County of Cochise—ss.: Office of the Board of Equalization. I, Frank Hare, clerk of the board of equalization of Cochise county, do hereby certify and return to the writ of certiorari hereto annexed:
“1st. That the list of the property of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company returned by the. county assessor before July 1, 1899, was as follows, to wit:—
‘ ‘ Total valuation of real estate as per schedule A attached:
Value of land ........................................... $ 6,505
Value of improvements ..................................... 42,050
Total value......... $48,555
Description of personal property:
Library ................................................. 300
Pianos and organs.......................................... 100
Merchandise of any and all kinds............................ 54,800
Safe and office furniture.................................... 1,500
Work horses, No. 10 ...................................... 200
Wagons and buggies and other vehicles....................... 475
Harness, saddles, and bridles............................... 100-
Lumber and lagging........................................ 7,880
Hoisting works, pumping and other machinery at mines........ 24,000
Smelting works and appurtenances.......................... 85,000
Mill, mine, and smelter supplies of any and all kinds, including coke and coal............................................ 9,750
Surveyors’ instruments..................................... 50
Assaying outfit............................................ 100
Tools and machinery, including other items and other property not enumerated above, ice machinery....................... 1,500
$234,310
$185,755 Total value of personal property.
48,555 Total value of real estate.......
$234,310
“As sworn to by the agent of the company, Ben Williams.
“2d. That the proceedings of the board of equalization in the said matter were as follows:
“ ‘July 12th, 1899. Board met, pursuant to adjournment
Raise.
Doctor’s office and library building from $7,800 to $9,800......$ 2,000
Hankin’s store, Main street, from $750 to $1,000............ 250
Merchandise, from $54,800 to $84,800............. 30,000
On ten work horses, from $200 to $400....................... 200
On lumber and lagging, from $7,880 to $10,000................ 2,120
On hoisting works, pumping and other machinery, from $24,000 to $39,000.............................................. 15,000
On smelters, from $85,000 to $120,000........................ 35,000
On mine and smelting supplies and coal, etc., from $9,750 to $11,750................................................. 2,000
On improvements consisting of store building, warehouse, hospital building, and doctor’s residence, from- $29,500 to $39,500 10,000
“Added” on cars and ear track in mine....................... 12,000
“ ‘Adjourned to July 18th, at 9 a. m. . . . ’
“On the-12th day of July, by order of the board, I deposited in the Tombstone post-office a notice to the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, in a sealed envelope, and directed to Ben "Williams, the recorded agent of said Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, and superintendent, a notice, of which the following is a true copy:
“ ‘Office of the Board of Equalization, Cochise County, Tombstone, Arizona. Ben "Williams, Superintendent, Bisbee: Referring to the inclosed list, you will ascertain the amount the county hoard of equalization proposes to add to your assessment. Should you wish to show cause why said amount should not he added, the board will hear you on July 19th, 1899. Frank Hare, Clerk, by James F. Duncan, Deputy Clerk. [List same as above.] ’
“I further certify that by direction of the board I caused to be published in the Tombstone Prospector, a daily newspaper published in Cochise County, a notice of which the following is a true copy, for a period of eight days:—■
“ ‘Notice.
“ ‘ To property owners the assessed value of whose property was increased by the board of equalization at the July, 1899,
Amount Baised and Added.
Copper Queen Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co.:
On doctor’s office and library building....................... $ 2,000
On HanMn’s store......................... 250
On merchandise ........................................... 30,000
On ten work horses........................ 200
On lumber and lagging..................................... 2,120
On hoisting works and machinery............................ 15,000
On smelters ............................................... 35,000
On mine and smelting supplies............................... 2,000
On store buildings and other buildings....................... 10,000
On ears and ear track...................................... 12,000
“ ‘Now, notice is hereby given to the parties named in the foregoing list that the board of equalization of the county of Cochise, Arizona Territory, will again sit as a board of equalization on Tuesday, August 1st, 1899, at 10 a. m., at their office in the courthouse in the city of Tombstone, when all persons whose property was added to the value upon the assessment roll of Cochise County for the year 1899 by the board of equalization, and who failed to appear before said board at its July sitting, may appear before said board at its sitting on Tuesday, the 1st day of August, 1899, and, upon making affidavit that they had no knowledge of such increased valuation of their property, they will be heard pursuant to law. R. W. Barr, Chairman. Frank Hare, Clerk. James F. Duncan, Deputy Clerk.’
“ ‘Tombstone, August 1st, 1899. Board of supervisors met as a board of equalization pursuant to adjournment of meeting July 20th, at 10 A. m. Members present: R. W. Barr, Chairman, John Montgomery, and M. C. Benton. . . . Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company is proposed to be raised as follows:
*370 Doctor’s office and library building, from $7,800 to $9,800...... $ 2,000
Hankin’s store, Main street, from $750 to $1,000............ 250
Merchandise, from $54,800 to $84,800........................ ’30,000
On ten work horses, from $200 to $400...................... 200
On lumber and lagging, from $7,800 to $10,000............... 2,200-
On hoisting works, pumping and other machinery, from $24,000 to $39,000............................................... 15,000
On smelters, from $85,000 to $120,000........................ 35,000
On mine and smelting supplies and coal, etc, $9,750 to $11,750.. 2,000
On improvements consisting of store building, warehouse, hospital building, and doctor’s residence, from $29,500 to $39,500 10,000-
“ ‘Whereas, on the 12th day of July, 1899, this board proposed to raise the assessment of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company as set out in the minutes of the board on page 40 thereof as corrected; and whereas, the clerk of this board, by his deputy, did on that day post a notice directed tn the. superintendent and agent of said company, posted by mail, as appears by the oath of said deputy clerk, that this board would act on said case on July 19th, 1899, when the said company might appear to be heard on the matter, and no-appearance having been made by said company-on that or any day since; and whereas, the list of raises proposed to be made by this board was published by said clerk in the Tombstone Prospector on the 22d day of July, 1899, and continuously to-this day, and still no appearance has been made by said company: Now, therefore, it is ordered that the raised valuation of the property of the said company as proposed (excepting the addition of $12,000 for cars and car track in mine) be,, and the same is hereby, finally fixed as proposed to be raised. . . . R. W. Barr, Chairman. Frank Hare, Clerk. James F.. Duncan, Deputy Clerk.’ ”
The case was tried before the court upon the record brought up in said return. The court rendered judgment that “the action of the board, as shown by the record of July 12, 1899, whereby the said board assumed authority to enter upon the assessment roll of said county, as the property of the petitioner, at the valuation of $12,000, certain property, to wit, cars and car track in mine, was taken in excess of the jurisdiction of the said board, and the same is hereby annulled, and declared to be without legal effect; and that in all other respects the proceedings had by said board be, and the same are
It is assigned as error by the appellant that “the court erred in giving judgment affirming the proceedings had by the board of equalization in July and August, 1899, by which the board undertook to add to the valuation of petitioner’s property on the assessment roll of that year, and in not giving judgment annulling said proceedings, for the reason that it appeared by the return of the board to the writ of certiorari, and was an uncontroverted fact in the record before the court', that the only action taken by the board in the matter was had and taken on July 12th, without any previous notice to petitioner, and on August 1st, without any appearance before them by the petitioner; and hence the whole proceeding was irregular and void, and beyond the jurisdiction of the board. ’ ’ It is necessary to determine whether the record of the proceedings of the board of equalization, as embodied in their return, shows the necessary jurisdictional facts to sustain their authority for the action taken by them. It is an admitted proposition that in tribunals of special and limited jurisdiction the particular facts and circumstances upon which their jurisdiction is based must appear upon the face of the proceedings. No presumptions are indulged in favor of the jurisdiction of an inferior tribunal, and it will be assumed that jurisdiction was wanting where -the record does not show affirmatively that it had been acquired. Starr v. Village of Rochester, 6 Wend. 561; Kinderhook v. Claw, 15 Johns. 537; Commonwealth v. Chase, 2 Mass. 170. The board of equalization, when acting upon the assessment roll, is a body possessed of but limited and special powers. When, therefore, its power and authority to do a particular thing are questioned, the record must exhibit affirmatively all the facts necessary to give it the authority to do the act complained of. When this is not done, the presumption is against its jurisdiction. State v. Ormsby County, 6 Nev. 95; State v. Board of Commissioners of Washoe County, 5 Nev. 317. By the provisions of the Kevised Statutes of this territory for the. assessment of taxes, after the assessor has completed the assessment-roll the board of equalization may change and correct any valuation of property either by adding thereto or deducting therefrom, whether such valuation was fixed by the owner or the assessor. They
From the return it appears that the original action of the board in adding to the assessed valuation of the property in question was taken on the twelfth day of July; that on that day the superintendent of the company was notified to be present on the nineteenth day of July, which date was named as the day when the board would act in that case; that the superintendent thus notified was not present on that day, or any day thereafter; and the record in the case, as returned by the board, does not furnish any evidence of any action of the board in reference to the property after the twelfth day of July until the first day of August. The minutes of the board, as embodied in their return, are conflicting, the different recitals of the transactions of the board on certain dates being inconsistent with each other. The minutes of the board of the twelfth day of July, as embodied in their return, show that the valuation was added to on the twelfth day of July, 1899, and that notice of such action was that day mailed to the superintendent of the company. The notice published on the
Street, C. J., and Sloan, J., concur.