53 So. 419 | Miss. | 1910
delivered the opinion of the court.
In July, 1909, S. C. Culpepper began a suit in the chancery court of Harrison county against C. R. North. The suit had for its object the cancellation of a tax title held by North to the S. W. ¼ of N. W. ¼, section 4, township 2 S., range 12 W. The complainant fully deraigned his title down to- the point where the adverse claim commences, and there is no point made on that. The bill shows that the land in question was assessed in the year 1900 as required by law. The assessment of the. land was as follows, viz.: “Unknown, E. ½ of S. E. ¼ and S. W. ¼ of N. W. Sec. 4, T. 2, R. 12 West, $240.” It is seen from the above assessment that the forty acres in question was jointly assessed with another eighty in the same section, etc., and that the whole was assessed at a uniform value of $2 per acre. It seems from the bill that the E. ½ of the S. E. ¼ belonged to one person, and that the S. W. ¼ of N. W. ¼, containing the forty acres in question, belonged to another. However this may be, the proportionate tax on the eighty-acre tract was paid; that is to say, the party paying on the eighty-acre tract paid two-thirds of the tax assessed on the uniform value of $2 per acre for the whole, leaving the remaining third, assessed upon the forty acres in question, unpaid. Subsequently, and on March 4, 1901, the remaining-forty acres of land was sold for one-third the tax still unpaid. The property was bought in by
Since a valid assessment of all property is the foundation of the validity of all sales, it is well to settle this question at the outset. This land is not contiguous, and it was an irregularity for it to be assessed as one tract of land. The duty of proper assessment is a double duty, resting both upon the property owner and the assessor, and every opportunity is offered the property owner to see that a proper assessment is made, either by giving it in himself, or by making proper corrections after the return of the assessment rolls, as provided by section 4296, Code 1906 (section 3787, Code 1892). This section provides that: “After the return of the assessment rolls they shall remain on file and be subject to objections for at least two weeks after being filed, and until the next regular meeting of the board of supervisors after the expiration of the two weeks,” etc. * * * “A person who is dissatisfied with the assessment may, within such time, present his objections thereto in writing,” etc. * * * “All persons who fail to file objections shall be concluded by the assessment and precluded from questioning its validity after its approval by the board of supervisors, or by operation of law, except minors and persons non compos mentis.” Under this section we held, in the case of Adams v. City of Clarksdale, 95 Miss 88, 48 South. 242, that, “where an assessment roll has been properly approved, the taxpayer is precluded from questioning its validity afterwards, and the effect of the approval is to render a final judgment against the taxpayer, unless subject to be reopened under section 4312.”
But it is claimed by appellee that the act of the tax collector in allowing the owner of the eighty-acre tract of land to pay two-thirds of tbe tax on his land, and then selling the forty acres
The case of House v. Gumble, 78 Miss. 259, 29 South. 71, supra, is a very different case from the one under consideration, and offers no obstacle to this view. In the case of House v. Gumble, the lots of J. R. Holcombe were jointly assessed as the “W. ½ of Tot 8, and W. ¼ of hot 9, Block 4,” at an aggregate valuation, or lump sum. It does not appear that any' person had paid the proportionate tax on either of the lots at the date of sale; but it does appear that the whole of the tax on both lots, jointly assessed, was delinquent at the time of sale. Instead of offering one of the lots for sale, as is required by section 4329, Code 1906 (section 3814, Code 1892), and making an effort to have the one lot bring a sufficient amount to discharge the tax on both, thus saving to the owner a part of his property, the tax collector, in direct violation of section 3814, Code 1892 (section 4329, Code 1906), arbitrarily apportioned the tax on both
There was no error committed by the tax collector in conducting the sale; but, if there had been, section 3813, Code 1892 (section 4328, Code 1906), prevents the error from invalidating* the sale, if the property was sold at the proper time and place and the taxes were due and unpaid. That all of these things existed is not even disputed. When there has been a valid assessment and sale thereunder for taxes, section 3817, Code 1892 (section 4332, Code 1906), declares for what reasons it may be avoided. The above section provides that, when a conveyance has been made by a tax collector, “no such conveyance shall be invalidated in any court except by proof that the land was not liable to sale for the taxes, or that the taxes for which the land was sold had been paid before sale, or that the sale had been made at the wrong time or place; and, if any part of the taxes for which the land was sold was illegal or not chargeable on it, but part was chargeable, that shall not affect the sale nor invalidate the conveyance, unless it appear that before sale the amount legally chargeable on the land was paid or tendered to
Counsel for appellee cite the cases of Speed v. McKnight, 76 Miss. 723, 25 South. 872, and Howell v. Shannon, 80 Miss. 598, 31 South. 965, 92 Am. St. Rep. 609; but neither of these cases has any bearing on this case. We will undertake to point out the reason. In order to understand the case of Speed v. McKnight, supra, it is necessary to consider the case in the light of the case of Corburn v. Crittenden, 62 Miss. 125, to which it refers, and from which it is distinguished. In Gorbum v. Crittenden lots 9, 10, and 11, in the town of Greenville, .and owned by different persons, were jointly assessed at one valuation and sold for delinquent tax on all, and the court held that “the objection that three lots (9, 10, and 11) were sold •together for one single tax and costs is without force, in view of the fact that they may have been, and presumably were, assessed together for a single sum as one tract.” In the case of Speed v. McKnight, 76 Miss. 723, 25 South. 872, supra, it was shown that lots Nos. 125 to 162, inclusive, were jointly assessed at the aggregate value of $800. These lots became delinquent for the taxes. Before the sale persons claiming 8 of the lots paid the taxes on them, and they were released by the tax collector, who, as the facts of the case show, “changed the assessment,” and then sold all the lots save those paid on. .Under these circumstances the court held that “the assessment under which this property was sold, and the sale, was utterly void. The case of Corburn v. Crittenden, 62 Miss. 125, is wholly unlike this case in its facts. The assessment here was the act of the tax collector and the lots were physically widely separated and of different values, as shown by proof, and should not have been sold as one tract.”
But none of these cases hold that any one of the owners could not have paid on any particular tract of the land and had same released. Such action would have been valid, and the tax collector would in no sense be said to have changed the assessment; that is to say, to have imposed more or less tax on any person’s land. In such case the tax collector is merely receiving taxes
It is our view that the demurrer should have been sustained, and the bill dismissed. So ordered.
Reversed.