94 Wis. 491 | Wis. | 1897
The items of taxes which, are alleged to be illegal will be taken up in their order as indicated in the statement.
1. As to the item of $4,150, being a part of the town tax: The plaintiff’s contention is that there was but $12,000 levied at the town meeting for general town purposes, whereas the .sum of $16,150 was carried out upon the tax roll. While the records of'the town are somewhat confused and meager, we think they fairly show that the sum of $16,150 was duly levied. We content ourselves by stating the conclusion on this point. A review of the evidence would serve no useful purpose.
2. As to the school district tax: It appears that the .town of Bayfield contains more than eight townships of land; that there is but one school district in the town; that it has not adopted the township system of schools (under sec. 516 et seq., E. $.); that the schoolhouses are situated in the unincorporated village of Bayfield, from which village the nearest lands of the plaintiff are ten miles distant, and could not in any sense be held to be contiguous to the village. The school district tax, however, was spread over the whole ■eight townships of land. The statute provides that “ every school district shall be of contiguous territory and shall not embrace more than thirty-six square miles of land.” S. & B. Ann. Stats, sec. 412. Plainly, the school district must embrace the village of Bayfield, where the schoolhouses and the population áre; and there is no way by which thirty-six square miles of contiguous territory could be laid out which would embrace both the village and plaintiff’s lands. It is certain, therefore, that the plaintiff’s lands cannot be within the school district, and, consequently, cannot be subject to the school district tax. The tax is attempted to be sustained, however, as a free high school tax. It appears that a free high school was attempted to be established in ■the district at the district meeting held July 5, 1887, and
3. As to the railroad tax: The facts as to this item are fairly and succinctly stated by the defendants as follows: “ September 17, 1895, the county duly accepted the proposition of the Washburn, Bayfield & Iron River Railway Company for aid, by the issue of $240,000 of bonds of the county for subscription to a like amount of the company’s stock. By the proposition the bonds were to be dated October 1,1895; fell due in twenty years from such date; drew interest at five per cent., payable semiannually; were to be placed in escrow, and delivered in instalments, as the road was built from point to point through the county. November 12, 1895, the county board, by ordinance reciting the due adoption of the proposition by election, directed the subscription; the execution, as soon thereafter as possible, of the bonds; the execution forthwith, after the execution of the bonds, of an escrow agreement for placing the stock and bonds in the hands of a trustee, for delivery as the road was built from point to point; the deposit, on the execution of such agreement, of the stock and bonds with the trustee; The ordinance also provided ‘that, from and after this date, there shall annually be levied in said county a tax, in addition to all other taxes, sufficient to pay, when due, the interest annually to grow due on such bonds, and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof by the timé the same shall be due. . . . Said tax shall be a tax of $12,000
It is argued that these constitutional and legal provisions authorize and require the levy of the tax in question. The position taken is that the county must levy the tax of $24,000 each year, whether a mile of railroad is ever built or not; that, even though the railroad should not be built at all, the county must} during the three years which the company has to complete its road, levy, collect, and accumulate $72,000, which, the statute says, “ shall be'kept as a separate fund, irrevocably pledged ” to the payment of bonds which can never become a debt. This seems to us an erroneous construction of the provisions in question. To our minds, the object aimed at was to provide that no obligation or debt should be incurred without simultaneous provision being made for taxation to discharge it within twenty years. It seems equally plain that it was not the object to require or authorize taxation and accumulation of funds, “irrevocably pledged” to the payment of bonds held in escrow, and which may or may not become binding obliga
It follows from these views that the district school tax and the railroad tax upon the plaintiff’s lands were invalid and should have been set aside, and that the town tax was valid.
By the Court. — Judgment reversed, and action remanded with directions to enter judgment in accordance with the opinion.