150 Ga. 691 | Ga. | 1920
Tlie thirteenth section of the act of the General Assembly, approved August 14, 1913 (Acts 1913, pp. 123, 130), generally referred to as the tax-equalization law, provides: “ It shall be the duty of the State tax-commissioner to carefully examine the tax digests of the several counties of this State, filed in the office of the comptroller-general, and to compare said digests for the purpose of ascertaining whether the tax valuation of the various classes of property, as made in the respective counties of the State, is reasonably uniform as between the respective counties. It is the purpose and intent of this act to bring about, as far as practicable, an equalization throughout the State of the values of the various classes of property subject to be taxed, so that the values fixed in one county shall not be out of due proportion to the values fixed in other counties on the same classes of property. If it shall appear to said commissioner that in any one or more of the counties of this State the taxable
With reference to the suggestion that the act in question violates the provision of the constitution of this State which provides that all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects and ad valorem on all property subject to be taxed within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, it is contended that the comptroller-general is charged with the assessment of the valuation for taxation of the property of railroad, telegraph, and other public-utility companies or corporations, while the act in question provides for the assessment of all other property through the tax-receiver of the county, the board of county tax-assessors, and the State tax-commissioner, and that no provision is made in the law of this State for the equalization of the valuation of the property of railroad, telegraph, and public-utility companies or corporations with the valuation of other property by the county board of assessors and and the State tax commissioner. The question is in principle settled adversely to the plaintiffs in error by the decision in Columbus Southern Railway Co. v. Wright, 89 Ga. 574 (15 S. E. 293). The question, in part, is in terms settled adversely to the plaintiffs in error in Barnes v. Watson, 148 Ga. 822 (3), 825 (98 S. E. 500), where it was ruled that “the tax-equalization law is not unconstitutional on the ground that it is in conflict with art. 7, sec. 2, par. 1, of the constitution of Georgia (Civil Code, § 6553), which declares that all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects, etc.” Treating the ques
It is insisted that the act in question is violative of the due-process clauses of the State and Federal constitutions, because the act does not provide for notice to the individual taxpayer and an opportunity to be heard, either before or after the State tax-commissioner orders a general increase in the valuation of the various classes of property in the county, or before such order is complied with by the board of county tax-assessors. Section 14 of the act provides that notice of an increase of assessment by the State tax-commissioner shall be given to the board of county tax-assessors, and the board may, as of right, demand an arbitration in behalf of the county, in the event the board desires it. This is due process of law, so far as guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. In Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board, 239 U. S. 441, 444 (36 Sup. Ct. 141, 60 L. ed. 372), Mr. Justice Holmes, speaking for the court, said: “For the purposes of decision we assume that the constitutional question is presented in the baldest way — that neither the plaintiff nor the assessor of Denver, who presents a brief on the plaintiff’s side, nor any representative of the city .and county, was given an opportunity to be heard, other than such as they may have had by reason of the fact that the time of meeting of the boards is fixed by law. On this assumption it is obvious that injustice may be suffered if some property in the county already has been valued at its full worth. But if certain property has been valued at a rate different from that generally
Is the act violative of the due-process clause of the constitution of the State? The act guarantees to every-individual taxpayer in the county notice and ah opportunity to be heard be-
In the case of Turner v. Wade, 254 U. S. (41 Sup. Ct. 27), the Supreme Court of the United States held that section 6 of the act in question, as construed and applied in the case under consideration, denied to the complaining taxpayer due process of law. The particular provision of the act affected by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States is as follows: “ . . else the decision of said board shall stand affirmed and shall be binding in the premises.” In that case the taxpayer demanded an arbitration. Arbitrators were selected as provided in the act. The arbitrators could not agree, though all the arbitrators believed, the assessment, as made by the board of county tax assessors, too high. The trial court and this court (Wade v. Turner, 146 Ga. 600, 91 S. E. 690; Turner v. Wade, 147 Ga. 666, 95 S. E. 220) followed the statutory requirement in such circumstances, and held the valuation of the board of county tax assessors to be “binding in the premises.” The decision of the. Supreme Court of the United States, as we construe it, merely holds that the statutory requirement, quoted above, is unconstitutional. The main purpose of the statute not being affected by the unconstitutionality of the particular provision, the whole act is not thereby defeated.
In the present case the board of county tax-assessors did not demand an arbitration, as was its right under the act. There was no attempt to arbitrate and no failure of the arbitrators to agree, as in the case of. Turner v. Wade, supra. We are not, therefore, called upon to decide whether, on failure of the arbitrators to agree, the statutory requirement that the increase as ordered by the State tax-commissioner “shall stand affirmed,” is
Judgment affirmed.