148 S.W.2d 554 | Mo. | 1941
Appeal from Circuit Court of St. Louis County. The plaintiffs (appellants) are School District No. 24 (a common school district), and the three directors of that district who sue in their capacity as directors and also as taxpayers. The defendants named in the petition are the following officers of said county: Neaf, the Assessor, Benson, the Collector, and Dwyer, the Treasurer. By leave of court others were permitted to intervene as defendants, to-wit: City of Clayton, Town School District of Clayton, and City of Brentwood. The petition, so far as pertinent here, states: that the St. Louis County Water Company is a privately owned corporation, selling water to various municipalities, industries and persons in said county; that its pumping and distributing plant and reservoirs are located in *704 the plaintiff school district; that its mains, pipes, conduits and hydrants, used in transporting water to various parts of the county, are attached to and a part of the company's plant, appurtenant to the land upon which the plant is situate, and a part of the realty; that the defendant county officers have treated and will continue to treat such pipes, conduits, etc., as personalty for taxation purposes by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly found in Session Acts of 1937, pages 545-547, the same being an amendment to Section 9977, Revised Statutes 1929 (Mo. Stat. Ann., sec. 9977, p. 8015); that said Act of 1937 is unconstitutional for certain stated reasons; that if such property is treated as personalty for taxation purposes, the plaintiff district will be deprived of a large sum in taxes and the same will be distributed among the districts and municipalities where such pipes, conduits, etc., are located; the petition prays that the Act of 1937 be declared unconstitutional and defendants be restrained from treating such property as personalty for taxation purposes.
The Act of 1937 reads as follows:
"All mains, pipes, meters and other equipment, constituting parts of a single, common or unified distributing system for supplying water or gas to two or more incorporated municipalities, belonging to any water company or gas company, firm, corporation, association or persons shall be treated, for tax purposes, as personal property and shall be taxable as such where situated."
The defendants, in their returns to the order to show cause why an injunction should not issue and in their answers, among other defenses, alleged a defect in the party defendants. After trial on the merits, the chancellor entered a decree for defendants, refused to issue an injunction, and ordered the petition of plaintiffs dismissed. Plaintiffs have appealed.
In this court the defendant county officers have raised the additional objection that there is a fatal defect of parties plaintiff; that is, that on the face of the petition the plaintiffs have no right to maintain this action. This point, as well as the alleged defect in the parties defendant, has been ably briefed by both sides; and, in our view, these are the only questions necessary for us to consider.
As to the right of plaintiffs to maintain the action, respondents state their position as follows: "It appears from the record herein that plaintiffs (appellants) do not own the property affected by the tax in question. A bill for an injunction to restrain the enforcement of an alleged illegal tax can be maintained only by one whose own property is affected by the tax, no one being permitted to enjoin the collection of taxes assessed against another."
[1] Respondents cite the case of Robins v. Latham,
[2] Is there a defect in the parties defendant? It seems to us that the same reasons, which give the right to plaintiff school district to bring this suit, give the right to defend it to all other school districts and municipalities into which the mains, pipes, etc., of the water company run. If this property is taxed as realty, the taxes go to the plaintiff school district; if it is taxed as personalty, the taxes go to the districts and municipalities where the property is located.
State ex rel. School District v. Neaf,
32 Corpus Juris, page 296, sec. 477 (2), speaking of parties in injunction suits, says: "Under the general rule all persons whose interests will necessarily be affected by the decree, or without whose presence a complete settlement of the questions involved in the action could not be attained, are, of course, properly joined as defendants. *706 So also persons without whose joinder no effectual decree can be rendered in plaintiff's favor are indispensable parties, since the court ought not to interfere at all except in a mode which would be effectual for the purpose of the decree. Also, under another general rule of equity practice, all persons not joined as plaintiffs who have an interest in the controversy, presented by the bill of such a nature that any decree completely adjudicating the rights of those before the court must necessarily affect the rights of the former, are indispensable parties without whom the court cannot lawfully proceed."
47 Corpus Juris, page 87, sec. 174(2) ". . . A person who has an interest in the subject matter in litigation of such a direct and immediate character that it would be legally affected by a judgment rendered in the case is a necessary party defendant, as is, also, a person who has a right to litigate over again in a new proceeding the same questions involved in the case, . . ."
In State ex rel. v. Sanderson, Collector,
Appellants argue that the only necessary defendants are the officials charged with the duty of assessing and collecting taxes; that the various school districts and municipalities are not charged with any duties which could be enjoined by this action.
Appellants' argument on this point is answered, in principle, by the authorities which we have already cited. It is answered directly by the opinion of the St. Louis Court of Appeals in the case of School District No. 4 v. Smith.
"The sixth and last ground of demurrer, to-wit, `that there is a defect of parties defendant in that school district number eight is a necessary party.' presents a more difficult question for solution. No restraining order or judgment is asked against the district or its officers and no such judgment or order can be directly rendered against the district or any of its officers. The sole relief prayed for is to enjoin the defendant from performing certain official acts which can be performed by none other than defendant as clerk of the county court; but the defendant has no interest in the subject-matter in controversy while the district has, and should the defendant be enjoined, the injunction would operate through him upon the district *707
as much so as if it were a party to the proceedings and the district would be effectually deprived of the benefits it would otherwise derive from the disputed territory as though the decree was in terms directed against it and its officers. [High on Injunctions (3 Ed.), sec. 1551.] In A., T. S.F. Ry. Co. v. Wilhelm,
We hold that the municipalities and school districts in which are located the mains, pipes, etc., of the water company are necessary parties to a complete determination of the issues herein.
It would seem that the reasons which make it necessary to bring in as defendants the various school districts and municipalities would also make it necessary to bring in the St. Louis County Water Company as a defendant. This taxpayer has a direct and substantial interest in the result of this litigation. If its property is treated as realty, it will pay taxes at a low rate, only in the plaintiff district where no high school is maintained and there is no municipality. If such property is treated as personalty, portions of it will be assessed at higher rates in some of the districts and other portions will be subjected to the additional burdens of municipal taxes. Appellants' brief shows that the pipes, mains, etc., of the water company extend into some forty-two school districts and eighteen cities and towns, and the assessed valuation thereof as personalty is more than two million dollars.
As the parties necessary for a complete determination of the issues herein are not before the court, we do not pass upon other points contained in the briefs.
Accordingly, the decree of the chancellor dismissing the petition is hereby reversed and the cause remanded so that plaintiffs, within a reasonable time to be fixed by the chancellor, may amend their petition and bring in new parties defendant if they so desire. All concur. *708