186 Ga. 228 | Ga. | 1938
The affidavit of illegality attacks as unconstitutional the motor-bus maintenance-tax act approved March 30, 1937 (Ga. Laws 1937, pp. 155-167). The act in question, by section 1, provides that “all persons, firms, corporations, or associations holding title to a motor-bus, truck and/or trailer, or having exclusive right to the use thereof for a period of. more than thirty days, shall pay a maintenance tax for the operation of such motor-bus, truck, and/or trailer upon and over the public roads of this State, according to the schedule” provided by the terms of the act. The maintenance tax is to be levied in addition to any and all other taxes, licenses, or registration fees required under existing laws. The terms of the act definitely identify the license or fee pre
The first insistence of the plaintiff in error is that the General Assembly could not, consistently with constitutional provision, provide for one class of carriers for hire, and another class of carriers not for hire, and charge different amounts for the two classes; and that accordingly the act discriminates against Dixie-Ohio Express Company, a common carrier of property for hire, in favor of private carriers of property. A State through its General Assembly may make classifications of subjects for taxation. The only constitutional requirement is that in so doing the .classification so made shall have some rational basis. In Wright v. Hirsch, 155 Ga. 227, 236 (116 S. E. 795), this court discussed very fully this question, and, speaking through Mr. Justice Hines, said: “The power of the legislature to classify persons for the purpose of
In the recent case of Carmichael v. Southern Coal &c. Co., 301 U. S. 495-531 (57 Sup. Ct. 868, 81 L. ed. 1245), the Supreme Court of the United States discussed at length the power of a State or legislative body to make classifications of property for purposes of taxation. Involved in that case was the question of the constitutionality of the unemployment-insurance compensation act of Alabama; and it was contended that the act in question constituted an infringement of the due-process and equal-protec
For other rulings on this same general subject by the Supreme Court of the United States, see Carley v. Snook, 281 U. S. 66 (50 Sup. Ct. 204, 74 L. ed. 705); Aero Mayflower Transit Co. v. Georgia Public-Service Commission, 295 U. S. 285 (55 Sup. Ct. 709, 79 L. ed. 1439); Continental Baking Co. v. Woodring, 286 U. S. 352 (52 Sup. Ct. 595, 76 L. ed. 1155); Clark v. Poor, 274 U. S. 554 (47 Sup. Ct. 702, 71 L. ed. 1199); Mori v. Bingham, 298
The maintenance-tax act is also criticized by plaintiff in error in that in each main classification, that is to say, the carriers for hire and the carriers not for hire, there is set up a subclassification based on the manufacturer’s rated capacity of the vehicles used, and fixing a different rate of tax according to the manufacturer’s rated capacity, and that there is no relationship between the manufacturer’s rated capacity of a truck or motor vehicle and its weight, and consequently no reasonable relationship between the manufacturer’s rated capacity and the wear and tear that such vehicle will cause to the highways by its use. The affidavit of illegality recites that “Bated capacity denotes the power of the motor, and not the weight or carrying capacity of the body of the truck.” Even so, it would seem that the manufacturer’s rated capacity of a motor vehicle has a direct and natural relation to the propensities of the vehicle to injure the highway, and to create public hazards. To make a classification based on the horse-power of the motor is not an arbitrary classification. It was expressly so decided in Lee v. State, 163 Ga. 239, 242 (139 S. E. 912), in Hendrick v. Maryland, 235 U. S. 610 (35 Sup. Ct. 140, 59 L. ed. 385), and in Kane v. New Jersey, 242 U. S. 160, 167 (37 Sup. Ct. 30, 61 L. ed. 222). See also Hicklin v. Coney, 290 U. S. 169 (54 Sup. Ct. 142, 78 L. ed. 247); Carley v. Snook, supra.
Still another ground of attack is that the tax collected is not used on the highways over which the plaintiff in error operates its trucks, but under the terms of the act it is allocated to rural post roads; that it is impossible for it to use the rural post roads of Georgia, because its routes within this State have been limited by the certificate granted it by the Interstate-Commerce Commission pursuant to the Federal motor-carrier act of 1935. U. S. C. A. title 49, §§ 301, 306. However, the privilege granted
The plaintiff in error relies on Interstate Transit Inc. v. Lindsey, 283 U. S. 183 (51 Sup. Ct. 380, 75 L. ed. 953); but it was distinctly ruled in that case that “A detailed examination of the statute under which the tax here challenged was laid makes it clear that the charge was imposed, not as compensation for the use of the highways, but for the privilege of doing the interstate bus business.” In the opinion it was said: “While a State may not lay a tax on- the privilege of engaging in interstate commerce (Sprout v. South Bend, 277 U. S. 163 [48 Sup. Ct. 502, 73 L. ed. 833]), it may impose even upon motor vehicles engaged exclusively in interstate commerce a charge, as compensation for the use of the public highways, which is a fair contribution to the cost of constructing and maintaining them and regulating the traffic thereon [citing Kane v. New Jersey, Clark v. Poor, Sprout v. South Bend, supra]. As such a charge is a direct burden on interstate commerce, the tax can not be sustained unless it appears affirmatively, in some way, that it is levied only as compensation for use of the highways or to defray the expenses of regulating motor traffic. This may be indicated by the nature of the imposition, such as a mileage tax directly proportioned to the use (Interstate Busses Corp. v. Blodgett, 276 U. S. 345 [48 Sup. Ct. 230, 73 L. ed. 551]), or by the express allocation of the proceeds of the tax to highway purposes, as in Clark v. Poor, supra, or otherwise. Where it is shown that the tax is so imposed, it will
It follows that the maintenance-tax act approved March 30, 1937 (Ga. L. 1937, p. 155), is not violative of article 1, section 1, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the constitution of this State, which declare that “Protection to person and. property is the paramount duty of government, and shall be impartial and complete,” and “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, except by due process of law;” or of article 1, section 8, paragraph 3, of the constitution of the United States, which provides that “The Congress shall have power . . to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes;” or of the due-process clause of the 14th amendment of the constitution of the United States, which declares that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Judgment affirmed.