117 Ky. 735 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1904
Opinion op the court by
Reversing.
This action involves the right of appellant to the five years’ exemption from taxation authorized by section 170 of the Constitution, section 2980a of the Kentucky Statutes of 1903, and the ordinance passed in pursuance thereof. The C. C. Mengel, Jr., & Bro. Company is a corporation of Louisville, Ky., carrying on a lumber business. Prior to 1899,
The question presented for adjudication is one of great moment to the municipalities of the Commonwealth, and it is therefore of paramount importance that we should establish a principle which will not unduly diminish their revenue, on the one hand, by allowing corporations to escape a fail-share of the public burdens, through- a construction so broad and lax as to permit the transfer of established plants under the specious pretense of locating new manufactories, nor, on the other hand, drive away new capital by a rule so narrow and technical that the spirit of the law will be killed
The question is one of fact, and every case must be deter.mined by its own merits. No inelastic rule can be laid down, lest, on the one hand, fraud be accomplished by undue laxity, or, on the other, the usefulness of the law be minimized by a too narrow and rigid construction.
This record shows the utmost good faith on the part of the new incorporators. They consulted with the city authorities at every step.in the establishment of the new venture, secured the favorable opinion of the city attorney on their title to the exemption under the existing facts, and filed the affidavit required by the ordinance with the city assessor; thus showing in advance they had purchased the old plant, and supposing, up to the time this action was instituted, that there was no clqud on their title to the exemption claimed. Their integrity is not challenged either in the evidence or in the argument; and, unless an old plant, which has ceased to be a “going concern,” can never be purchased for the establishment of a new one of the same kind, without operating to deprive the investors of the exemption otherwise authorized by the law, they are clearly
Judgment reversed for proceedings- consistent with this opinion.