145 Ga. 408 | Ga. | 1916
A taxpayer sought to enjoin the collection of the taxes levied by the commissioners of Chatham county, on the ground that there was no authority of law for the collection of the item of the tax levy to raise money for educational purposes, and on the further ground that the whole levy and assessment were not made in compliance with law. The court refused the injunction.
Later on, in 1883 (Acts of 1882-3, p. 522), the legislature undertook expressly to give the commissioners of Chatham county the power “to levy and collect annually a tax upon the taxable property in said county of Chatham, sufficient to raise the revenue required to support and maintain the public schools in the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham.” This provision of the act is assailed as contravening the constitutional prohibition that no such law shall be valid until approved by two thirds of a popular vote at an election whereat the law is to be submitted for approval. This attack must prevail. It follows that the commissioners of Chatham county have no legal power to levy and collect a local tax for education in that county.
Judgment reversed.