245 Pa. 515 | Pa. | 1914
Opinion by
This bill was filed for the purpose of having the assessment upon which the special tax was levied, declared illegal and void, and to restrain the defendants from proceeding in any manner to collect the tax in question. Equity has power in a proper case to restrain the collection of a tax, but it is a power that should be cautiously exercised, because as a general rule there is an edequate remedy at law. Equity will only intervene in such a case where there is either want of power to tax or ,a disregard of imperative constitutional requirements: Banger’s App., 109 Pa. 79; Gas Company v. Elk County, 168 Pa. 401. In the present case the taxing authorities had power to make the assessment and levy the special tax, and the irregularities complained of can all be corrected on appeal as provided by law, without the intervention of a court of equity. Under all the facts this court does not feel warranted in reversing the decree entered by the learned court below and declaring the assessment illegal and absolutely void. We base our conclusion on the ground that appellant has an adequate remedy at law and that this remedy should be pursued.
This decision must not be understood as an adjudication of the validity of the assessment, nor as an expression of approval of the method adopted by the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes under the Act of 1905. What we do decide is that every question presented for our consideration in the case at bar, can be raised on appeal from the revised assessment under the law. There being an adequate remedy at law, a court of equity should be very slow to extend its restraining arm when by so doing the entire assessment would be stricken down. We assume that appeals are pending, and that the learned court below will have the opportunity of passing upon the merits of the questions raised here when the
Decree affirmed at cost of appellant.