438 Pa. 506 | Pa. | 1970
Lead Opinion
Opinion by
This is an action in equity brought by the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company (Rochester) to enjoin application of a revised method of taxation undertaken by the Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes of Indiana County (Board). Rochester, appellant, contends that the classifications created and the rates applied violate the Equal Protection Clause, the Uniformity Clause and The Fourth to Eighth Class County Assessment Law, Act of May 21, 1943, P. L. 571, Art. I, §101 et seq., 72 P.S. §5453.101 et seq. Appellee filed preliminary objections alleging that this was not a proper class action (as appellant had contended) and that appellant had an adequate statutory remedy. The court below sustained the preliminary objections on both points,
Appellant next argues that equity has jurisdiction because the statutory remedy that does exist is not adequate.
We hold that Rochester does have statutory remedy and that equity has no jurisdiction over the matter.
Decree affirmed. Costs on appellant.
The problems that can be encountered when proceeding in equity rather than through the statutory process are well shown in the cases of Ahbotts Dairies v. Philadelphia, 436 Pa. 131, 258 A. 2d 634 (1969), and Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania v. Philadelphia, 421 Pa. 14, 218 A. 2d 727 (1966). In both those cases equity, while acting with haste, did not give the eases the thorough analysis to which they would have been subjected if the administrative process had been used. As a result, the decrees were overbroad, and this Court was required to decide whether taxes could be assessed retroactively after the mistakes came to light. Expertise in this field lies in the administrative bodies, and we should be slow, as far as jurisdiction is concerned, to favor equity courts over them.
As we also stated in Y.M.C.A. (402 Pa. 595), “[t]he efficacy of the rule that a statutory remedy must be pursued, if one exists, in
It should also be noted that the long series of real estate tax cases beginning with Morris v. Board of Property Assessment, 417 Pa. 192, 209 A. 2d 407 (1965), and continuing through H. J. Heinz Company v. Board of Property Assessment, 417 Pa. 259, 209 A. 2d 418 (1965), all came through the administrative process, and in that way it was possible to develop and resolve all the problems, including difficult constitutional ones, that were present in those cases. None of those cases have produced the problems that resulted from the equity decrees in AVbotts Dairies and Bell Telephone.
Rochester states there is some confusion as to whether the Fourth to Eighth Class County Assessment Law, supra, or the General County Assessment Law, Act of May 22, 1933, P. L. 853, §1 et seq., 72 P.S. §5020-1 et seq., is applicable to this case. The major difference, as far as this appeal is concerned, is that the latter contains a specific reference to payment of interest, Act of May 22, 1933, P. L. 853, as amended by the Act of July 8, 1957, P. L. 581, §1, 72 P.S. §5020-518.1, while the former contains no specific reference. The Act of May 21, 1943, P. L. 571, Art, VIII, §801 would
Dissenting Opinion
In 1968 the Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes of Indiana County undertook, through a real estate appraisal firm, the revaluation and reassessment of properties in nine of Indiana County’s thirty-eight political subdivisions. Since the revaluation substantially increased the tax valuations of the properties located in these nine subdivisions, the practical result was that the affected property owners paid a higher tax on their property than did similarly situated property owners in the other twenty-nine subdivisions. Appellant, the largest landholder in Indiana County, believing that the levying of taxes on the basis of this partial revaluation violated the uniformity provision of Article VIII, §1, of the Pennsylvania Constitution, brought this suit in equity. The trial court sustained the County’s preliminary objections and a majority of this Court today sustains that ruling on the theory that equity has jurisdiction over cases challenging the imposition of a tax only where there is “a substantial question of constitutionality . . . and the absence of an adequate statutory remedy.” Because I believe that this result is contrary to our prior case law and unnecessarily restricts equity’s proper function, I must dissent.
The most recent case which directly bears upon, and in my view should control, the decision in this case was decided only last year, when this Court confronted and rebuffed a challenge to equity’s jurisdiction over a constitutional attack on a school district’s employment tax: Lynch v. O. J. Roberts School District, 430 Pa. 461, 244 A. 2d 1 (1968). We there said: “. . . While we agree with the general proposition that equity will not entertain an action where plaintiff has an adequate statutory remedy at law, we also acknowledge the presence of an exception to that doctrine, existing where a taxing statute is made the subject of a con
I do not know how any case could more clearly be controlling. The majority’s assertion that this case is different because it involves a real estate tax is unpersuasive. While it might be true that many of the larger constitutional problems which inhabit this area have already been put to rest, one need only look at the facts of this case to see that substantial constitutional questions can still arise. Further, the relative infrequency with which substantial constitutional problems might arise hardly constitutes sufficient reason to deny courts of equity jurisdiction over such questions when they do arise.
Another case which is effectively overruled by the majority opinion is Studio Theaters, Inc. v. Washington, 418 Pa. 73, 209 A. 2d 802 (1965). In that case the theater owners filed a suit in equity challenging the constitutionality of a city amusement tax, and the city
A third case which bears heavily on this problem is Young Men’s Christian Assoc. v. Reading, 402 Pa. 592, 167 A. 2d 469 (1961). There this Court examined the historical basis of equitable jurisdiction in tax cases and concluded that equity had no jurisdiction where the challenge was not of constitutional dimension, saying: “We conclude, therefore, that, absent a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute or of official action thereunder, equity has no jurisdiction to restrain the collection of taxes. . . .” 402 Pa. at 598, 167 A. 2d at 472. It is my view that the rationale of this case unstintingly supports the presence of equity jurisdiction in a case such as the one before us today.
There can be little doubt that the appellant has presented a strong constitutional challenge to the propriety of this tax. If uniformity means anything it means that similarly situated taxpayers must be treated equally. Whether the inequality arises from a variance in the rate used or from varying standards of assessment makes no difference—any inequality is unconstitu
I can see no reason to reverse our long held position that equity has jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to tax extractions. If a tax is inherently constitutionally defective, there is no reason to confine those affected to narrow statutory remedies. Why should every property owner in Indiana County have to assume the burden of appealing the propriety of his payment when the large questions could expeditiously and efficiently be resolved in a single suit? Further, a court of equity is certainly as competent as a tax review board in deciding constitutional questions. It is my conclusion that where the intrinsic constitutionality of a taxing scheme is challenged there is no reason to force that litigation into an administrative forum, and that equity ought to have jurisdiction over such cases.