9 W. Va. 162 | W. Va. | 1876
This is a bill of injunction, filed in the circuit court of Ritchie county, against the defendants, to restrain the collection of a sumí of money assessed Py the Town of Harrisvillé against the' plaintiffs, being the costs of-constructing a certain pavement, or sidéwalk,' ón"the' street,.adjacent to a Ipt of plaintiffs, which pavement.the plaintiffs had been previously ordered to make, and- notified that, 'unless they did so within'a specifiedtime,’- it -
The bill was demurred' tó, and the demurrer overruled.
The defendants then each answered the bill. A considerable amount of evidence was taken and filed in the cause by plaintiffs and defendants, and, at the hearing, the court dissolved the injunction,'and dismissed the bill. .'From this action of the circuit court;'the plaintiffs have obtairiéd'ah appeal tó this'Court'. '
, The act of the legislature, passed the twenty-sixth of Féhi'uáry,''l8Í>9, 'éntitíéd;' “ iÁÍH ''áct" itó incorporate the
The first section of article eight of the Constitution of 1863, and the first section of article ten of the Constitution of 1872, in so far as they provide that taxation shall be “ equal and uniform” throughout the State, and that all property, both real and personal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, do not apply to counties, cities, towns and villages. See Gilkeson v. The Frederick Justices, 13 Gratt, 577.
The ninth section of the tenth article of the Constitution of 1872 is in these words: “ The Legislature may, by law, authorise the corporate authorities of cities, towns, and villages, for corporate purposes, to assess and collect taxes; but such taxes shall be uniform, with respect to persons and property, within the jurisdiction of the authority imposing the same.” This section is addressed to the Legislature, and is prospective in its operation,
I will proceed to ascertain whether the-plaintiffs’ case, as it appears, is one proper for the -interposition of a court of equity, by injunction. A court of equity will n.ot restrain the collection of an assessment or tax, imposed by an incorporated town, on the, sole ground that .the tax is. illegal. There must exist, in addition; special circumstances, bringing the case under some recognized head of equity jurisdiction, such as that the enforcement of' the' assessment or tax would lead to a multiplicity of suits, or produce irreparable injury, or, where the property is real estate, .throAV a cloud upon the title of the plaintiff, or the like. Dews v. City of Chicago, 11 Wall. 108; Heywood v. the City of Buffalo, 14th N. Y., 534; Bull v. Read 13 Graft, 78; Dillon on Municipal Corporations vol.
This court has heretofore considered principles bearing on this case, in cases from the County of Greenbrier against Boards of Education, not yet reported, and following the case of Bull v. Read 13 Gratt, and the said case in 11 Wall. In the case of Kuhn v. the Board of Education of Wellsburg, 4 W. Va. 490, and the case of The Trustees of Clarksburg v. Goff, 5 W. Va. 498, the question of jurisdiction was not raised or made, and was not decided by the court, just as has been the case in a number of other cases, where jurisdiction has been taken,, as stated in the opinion of the court in the case cited in 11 Wallace. In the case of Tappan, collector, v. Merchants National Bank, 19 Wall 490, 1 presume special cause was shown for the interposition of a court of equity, as the question of jurisdiction was not raised or discussed.
This bill is filed in the name of plaintiffs alone, and not in behalf of any others. If the assessment is illegal, it, and all proceedings under it, are illegal and null, and the town, as well as the officer, is responsible to the plaintiff, for damages in a suit at law. They, plaintiffs, had also a remedy by detinue, under the provisions of chapter one hundred and two of the Code, by which they could have obtained immediate possession of the “buggy,” or compelled the officer to give security for its delivery. If the said assessment was illegal, which Ido not now determine, plaintiffs evidently had a complete and adequate remedy at law, for redress and relief, without invoking the aid of a court of equity, by the exercise of a process of injunction, and having such remedy they do not present a proper case for the exercise of equity jurisdiction.
There was, therefore, no error in the circuit court dissolving the injunction, and dismissing'plaintiffs’ bill.
The said decree of the circuit court of the county of
Deoree Affirmed.