82 Kan. 203 | Kan. | 1910
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The Royal Salt Company, which is engaged in mining, crushing and refining salt in Ells-worth county, brought this action against the board of county commissioners and the county treasurer of Ells-worth county to enjoin the enforcement,and collection of taxes levied upon- its salt plant. The plant consists of ground four acres in extent, together with buildings, machinery and improvements erected and placed thereon for crushing and refining the product of the mines. It is alleged in the petition of the salt company that in 1908 the county assessor assessed its property at $400,000; that an appeal was finally taken from the decision of the local authorities to the tax commission, and upon a hearing that tribunal found “that the actual
The case must be determined on the averments of the petition. On the demurrer to that pleading the al
In addition to the charge of fraudulent assessment, appellant contends that its property was valued on the wrong theory. The fact that the commission did not obtain the best evidence of value or adopt the best plan in estimating the value of the plant does not entitle appellant to injunction. It must appear that the theory in its practical operation'was hurtful to appellant, and that through the arbitrary, capricious and fraudulent action of the taxing officers an unjust assessment was made by which appellant would be required to pay more than its share of the public burdens. It is not enough that the assessment of other salt companies may be proportionately less than its own, or even less than they should have been, for if appellant’s assessment is not excessive and it is not required to pay more than its share of the taxes it is not entitled to equitable relief. (Finney County v. Bullard, 77 Kan. 849.) Nor are the taxing officers required to value the ground of appellant as if it were ordinary agricultural land. Its value depends largely upon the quantity and quality of the salt deposits under the surface of the land, and is not governed merely by the quantity of salt mined and refined during the preceding year. The tax commission, in fixing and equalizing values, may avail itself of any information it possesses or can obtain that will enable it to make a just estimate of the actual value of the plant, and its decision, although erroneous, is absolute and final when it is fairly and honestly made.
As the petition states a cause of action the demurrer should have been overruled and the case tried on its merits, and for this error the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.