221 N.W. 13 | Minn. | 1928
The covenants in the several leases are substantially the same as in the cases of Marble v. Oliver I. Min. Co.
In this appeal defendants advance two new propositions, viz: That the title of L. 1923, p. 258, c. 226, does not cover the taxation of interests or estates in realty; and, if it does, the classification is arbitrary and does not operate uniformly on all within the class, thus offending both the state and federal constitutions.
Art. 4, § 27, of our constitution provides:
"No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title."
The title to L. 1923, p. 258, c. 226, is:
"An act providing for the levy and collection of a tax on royalty received by the owner of any right, title or interest in land situate in this state for permission to explore, mine, take out and remove ore from the same."
Under our interpretation of this law, that it imposes a tax upon the right, title and interest of the owner of iron ore land who, for a consideration, has given to another permission to explore, mine and remove the ore, we do not see any force in the claim that the title does not cover the tax. The law does not embrace more than one matter, viz. the taxation of such an owner's interest in the land in so far as it relates to the ore in the course of removal, the amount of the tax being measured by a percentage of the consideration or royalty received. *308
It is very vigorously contended that even though there be no constitutional objection to the title and scope of L. 1923, p. 258, c. 226, as above construed, such construction necessarily renders the law unconstitutional as contravening art. 1, § 7, of the state constitution and the fourteenth amendment of the federal constitution in that, construed as a tax on interests in land, or in rem, it applies to a portion of the ore lands only and is discriminatory. Classification for the purposes of taxation is permissible under art. 9, § 1, of our constitution, which provides that "taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects." Mutual Benefit Life Ins. Co. v. County of Martin,
Since the tax is measured by the amounts of the stipulated yearly consideration paid for the permission to mine, it is true that equality may not always result. Some leases run as low as 12 1/2 cents per ton mined and others as high as $1.25 per ton. No doubt the uncertainty of the mining value of the ore and of varying estimates of the mining cost at the time the lease is made determine the *309
royalty or consideration. Other factors enter, such as the probable future market of the ore as well as its market value at the time of the lease. But similar variations affect all sorts of property and the taxation thereof. We may take as an example the operation of the gross earnings tax, the validity of which is so well established that no authorities need be cited. It is a tax imposed on the property of the owner in the form of a lieu tax. 6 Dunnell, Minn. Dig. (2 ed.) § 9543; Cudahy Packing Co. v. Minnesota,
Mining leases usually provide for a minimum royalty to be paid whether mining is done or not, and some contain provisions, not in others, that the minimum royalty thus paid shall be credited upon ore subsequently removed. The form of the permission under which iron ore is being removed should not have much bearing upon the validity of the law laying a tax upon the interest of the one who grants the permission. The law as construed in the Marble and the Lord cases affords, in our opinion, no valid ground for claiming it to be an arbitrary and discriminatory classification of property for taxation purposes. In Heisler v. Thomas Colliery Co.
The judgments are affirmed.
HILTON, J. took no part. *310