116 Ky. 28 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1903
Opinion op the court by
Reversing-
This action was instituted by the appellee, H. B. Huelefeld, a citizen and taxpayer of tbe city of Covington, against the appellant, M. D. Mclnerney, sheriff of Kenton county, to enjoin the collection of a tax of thirty-eight cents on each $100 of property in the county, which was levied by the fiscal court of Kenton county, composed of the conn
First, because the commissioners appointed pursuant to section 1079 of the Kentucky Statutes of 1899, to divide the county into justices’ districts, only allotted to the city two magistrates, while five were allotted to the county outside of the city, notwithstanding the fact that the city greatly exceeded the rest of the county both in wealth and population. It appears from the record that in 1892 the county judge of Kenton county appointed three commissioners to divide the county into magisterial districts, and that they performed this duty in strict conformity with the provisions of section’ 1080 of the Kentucky Statutes of 1899, and that no exceptions were made to the division as made by them, and their report was regularly confirmed by the judgment of the Kenton county court at its January term, 1893, and so far as this record shows this apportionment has never been 'called in question in any way. If, as contended, this apportionment of the county into magisterial districts was unjust to the city of Covington, they could have filed exceptions to the confirmation of the report, and, in addition to this remedy, section 1082 of the statutes provides that the county may be reapportioned into justices’ districts at any term of the court in the same way four years after the first apportionment. As the city of Covington has not complained of this apportionment in the manner pointed out by the statute, a court of equity can not regard it as a sound contention at the suit of' an individual citizen to enjoin the collection of the tax assessed against him.
The next ground complained of is that the levy made by
The third and most'important ground upon which appellee assails the levy is that the city of Covington is by law separated from the balance of the county of Kenton for governmental purposes, and that in consequence thereof the fiscal court of the county had no legal power or authority to levy a tax for county purposes upon the property of citizens living within the city of Covington; and incidentally to this contention it is insisted by appellee that the decision rendered by this court in the case of Richardson v. Boske, Sheriff, etc., 111 Ky., 893, 23 R., 1209, 64 S. W., 919, should be overruled. In that case Richardson, a citizen of Kenton county, residing outside of the corporate limits of the city of Covington, sought to enjoin Boske, the then sheriff, from collecting a tax which the magistrates of the county residing outside of Covington, assuming to be the fiscal court of the county, had levied on property located in the county outside of-the city of Covington for the year 1899, for county purposes, on the.ground that the magistrates residing in the city of Covington" did not act as members of the fiscal court, which made the levy, and that the tax was therefore levied by an illegally constituted fiscal court. The sheriff resisted the granting of the injunction upon the ground that the city of Covington was separated from the
The General Assembly has plenary power to create counties, and it can not be doubted that, if they had intended to establish a separate county government in the city of Covington, they would have done so in a clear, explicit and unequivocal act passed for that purpose. In our opinion, the contention rests upon no substantial basis and can not be maintained.
Petition for rehearing by appellee overruled.