84 Iowa 407 | Iowa | 1892
The plaintiff is a corporation, and was organized in the year 1879 for the term of‘fifty years. It has the power to acquire and hold both real and personal property. On the fourth day of November of the year specified it entered into an agreement with the owners of a small tract of land situated on Skunk river. The agreement was in writing, and contains the following provisions:
*408 “For value received, party of tlie first part (the laud-owners) hereby grants to party of the second part (the water company) the entire use and possession of the following described real estate. (The description of,the tract mentioned is here given.) This lease to continue as long as the said party of the second part, or its successors or assigns, shall continue to operate the waterworks upon said land, as specified hereinafter, and no longer; and, when said works shall cease to be operated by said party of the second part, its successors or assigns, this lease shall cease and terminate, saving to the party of the second part, its successors or assigns, the right to remove all machinery, fixtures and buildings and property therefrom. Party of the second part is to erect upon said lands buildings and machinery, for-the purpose of obtaining and taking from said premises water, to be conveyed to the city of Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the supply of the inhabitants of said city with water.”
The agreement contained other provisions in regard to the laying of waterpipes, the maintaining of a hydrant for the benefit of the land-owners, the furnishing. of water, and the repairing of a dam, which need not be set out at length. The tract described is situated in Madison township, in Mahaska county, and upon it are the buildings, engines, pumps and other machinery which constitute the pumping-works of the plaintiff. The main building is of brick, about thirty-six by one hundred feet in size, and rests upon a solid foundation of stone masonry. The plant is extensive and substantial. It is connected with a system of mains and pipes laid in the city of Oskaloosa by one large main, which extends from the plant through the south part of Madison township, a distance of one and one fourth miles; thence one and one half miles, through Oarfield township, to the north limit of the township of Oskaloosa; and thence one half mile to the north limit of the city of Oskaloosa. In the city,
I. The question presented for our determination is whether the property of the plaintiff within the city of Oskaloosa was personal property within the meaning •of the law for the purposes of taxation. In determining the question no reference will be had to the office furniture, books and accounts, for the reason that the record discloses nothing as to their value, and nothing appears to be claimed for them excepting in connection with other property. The property we .shall consider consists of the buildings, machinery, mains, pipes, hydrants, standpipe and filter, which constitute the system of waterworks in question, and the interest of plaintiff in the real estate used in connection with it. It was said in the case of Des Moines Water Co., 48 Iowa, 324, that the land, building, machinery and water mains of the company were all real estate; that the mains in another township than that in which the land, buildings and pumping imachinery were located partook of the same character.
While it is true, in this case, that the company may at any time terminate its right to occupy the tract of ground at Skunk river and remove its property therefrom, yet it is very evident that neither party to the agreement contemplates such a termination at present, and probably not during the life of the company. The buildings and improvements are of a solid and permanent character, designed to last for many years. They are attached to the land in the manner adopted for permanent structures, and they are treated and used in all respects as a part of the freehold. They are not a part of the freehold for all purposes, only because of the existence of a right, which is not likely to be exercised, to sever them. They possess all the physical attributes of real estate. Their owner has the right to occupy the premises on which they stand during its pleasure, if it continue to operate its works so long; and that right is an interest in the land occupied by the plant in the nature of an easement, and may be assigned. It was held in effect, in Appeal of Des Moines Water Co., supra, that the water mains, which occupied the streets in which the company had no right save that of laying and maintaining the mains therein, should be regarded as appurtenances of the waterworks, taxable as a part of them, and that the place of assessment and taxation was determined by the location of the waterworks and land upon which they were situated. It is true, as has been stated, that the land was owned 'by the company, and in this case it is not, but it has been frequently held that improvements erected upon real estate, of a permanent character, so far possess the attributes of real estate that for the -purpose of taxation they may be so treated,
The statute of Iowa provides that all property, real and personal, not included in certain classes of exemptions, shall be subject to taxation. Subdivision 8, of section 45, of the Code is as follows: “The word ‘land7 and the phrases ‘real estate7 and ‘real property7 include lands, tenements, hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal.77 “Hereditaments,77 in the broadest sense, includes everything capable of being inherited.- The word “tenement,77 in its most extensive signification, '“comprehends everything which may be holden, provided it be of a permanent nature. In a more restricted sense, it is a house or building.77 Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. The mortgagee of real estate is •ordinarily considered to hold but a chattel interest, but for some purposes he has been held to be an owner' of the property mortgaged, within the meaning of the •subdivision quoted, because he has an equitable interest therein. Severin v. Cole, 38 Iowa, 464; White v. Rittenmyer, 30 Iowa, 269; Burton v. Hintrager, 18 Iowa, 350. The word “land,77 as used in the statute of New York relating to property liable for taxation, includes “the land itself,77 and “all buildings and other articles •erected upon or affixed to the same.77 It has been held under that statute that buildings erected upon land by •a person other than the owner, under a right or interest which authorized the erection, were subject to assessment as real estate. People v. Commissioners, 82 N. Y. 459, and cases therein cited; People v. Board, 93 N. Y. 308; People v. Commissioners, 101 N. Y. 322, 4 N. E. Rep. 127. It is true that in Melhop v. Meinhart, supra, it was said that a person whose right to use land was similar to that of the plaintiff in this case had no