The General Assembly at its 1953 Nov.Dee. session adopted a resolution (Ga. L. 1953, Nov. Sess., p. 502) proposing to the qualified voters of Richmond County that Article 7, Section 4, Paragraph 1, of the *152 Constitution of 1945 (Code § 2-5701) be amended by adding thereto a new; provision giving the board of commissionеrs of roads and revenues of that county the right and power to assess and collect license fees and taxes from all persons, firms, and corporations maintaining a place or places of business in any area of Richmond County outside thе incorporated limits of municipalities; the right and power to license and regulate taxicabs and cars for hire in such unincorporated area; and the right and power to classify businesses and business enterprises, which are not subject to regulation by the State Public Service Commission, and to assess different license fees and taxes against different classes of business. It also' provides that the county board of commissioners shall have the right and power to license all businesses and business enterprises in any area of Richmond County outside the incorporated limits of municipalities, in the interest of the welfare of the citizens of the county, and to prescribe rules and regulations concerning the same and to provide that a violation of any license regulation adopted by the board or the failure to pay any license fee or tax prescribed by the board for any business shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable upon conviction thereof by the general laws of this State. Sectiоn 2 of the resolution provides for submission of the proposed amendment to all of the qualified voters of Richmond County in the 1954 general election and such section also provides: “All persons voting at said election in favor of adopting said prоposed Amendment to the Constitution shall have written or printed on their ballots the words: ‘For ratification of Amendment to Art. 7, Sec. 4, Par. 1 of the Constitution authorizing Richmond County to assess and collect license taxes upon businesses in Richmond County and to regulate sаme.’ And all persons opposed to the adoption of said Amendment shall have written or printed on their ballots the words: ‘Against ratification of Art. 7, Sec. 4, Par. I of the Constitution authorizing Richmond County to assess and collect license taxes upon businesses in Richmond County and to regulate same.’ ” When the proposed amendment was submitted, 2,296 of the qualified voters of Richmond County voted for it, 1,789 voted against it, and the Governor proclaimed its ratification on *153 November 2, 1954. Pursuant to the provisions of the amendment, the Board of Commissioners of Roads & Revenues of Richmond County on December 18, 1961, adopted a resolution fixing the amount of license taxes for 1962 to be paid by persons, firms, and corporations doing business in the unincorporated area of Richmond County.
Hаrvey Seago, a resident of the unincorporated area of Richmond County, a dealer in automobile parts and accessories, and against whom a license tax of $225 had been assessed for 1962, together with 15 others similarly situated, brought an action in their own behalf and in behalf of all others similarly situated against Richmond County and the members of its governing body to enjoin the collection of the license taxes imposed upon them by the purported constitutional amendment of 1954 and the resolution adоpted by the county board of commissioners pursuant thereto which fixed the amount of such business taxes for 1962. As amended, their petition alleges several grounds why the relief sought by them should be granted, one of wlhich is that the proposed amendment was never legally submitted to the qualified voters of Richmond County for ratification or rejection, and for that reason it never became a part of the Constitution of 1945. Respecting this, the amended petition alleges that the official ballots furnished to and used by the voters of Richmond County when the proposed amendment was voted on in 1954 read as follows: “For ratification of amendment to Art. 7, Sec. 4, Par. 1 of the Constitution authorizing Richmond County to assess and collect license taxes upon businesses in Richmond County and to rеgulate same; Against ratification of Art. 7, Sec. 4, Par. 1 of the Constitution authorizing Richmond County to assess and collect license taxes upon businesses in Richmond County and to regulate same.” The petition also alleges that the defendants have made a demand on each of the petitioners and others similarly situated for payment of the assessed license tax claimed to be due by each of them for 1962; that March 1, 1962, has been fixed as a “dead-line” for payment of such taxes; and that executions аre being issued against all persons affected by the purported amendment and the resolution adopted pursuant thereto; and that such executions will be levied on the prop *154 erty of each for the purpose of collecting such taxеs. It is further alleged that the defendants are illegally spending large sums of county tax funds to administer the provisions of the purported amendment and the resolution adopted pursuant thereto. It is also alleged that a multiplicity of suits and a circuity of actions will be avoided if a court of equity assumes jurisdiction of this controversy for the purpose of settling it in one action. Besides for process, rule nisi, and service, the prayers are (1) that the purported amendment to Article 7, Section 4, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution of 1945 (Code § 2-5701) be declared void and of no force and effect; (2) that the defendants be temporarily and permanently enjoined from collecting the license taxes assessed for 1962 against the petitioners and all others similarly situated; and (3) that the defendants be temporarily and permanently enjoined from spending county tax funds in an effort to enforce the provisions of such purported constitutional amendment and the resolution passed pursuant thereto. Upon an interlocutory hеaring, the petition as amended was dismissed on demurrers alleging that (1) the amended petition sets out no cause of action, and (2) there is no equity in the bill, and under the allegations of the amended petition it appears as a matter of law that petitioners and others similarly situated are not entitled to any of the relief for which they pray. The exception is to this judgment. Held:
“The general rule is that an amendment to the Constitution does not become effective as such unless it has been duly adopted in accordance with the provisions of the existing Constitution. The procedure and requirements established for the amendment of the fundamental law are mandatory and must be strictly followed, in order to effect a valid amendment. None of the requisite steps may be omitted.”
It is argued in the brief of counsel for defendants in error that the Constitution of this State declares that the General Assembly in the resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution shall state the language to be used in submitting it. While this is a present provision of Article 13, Section 1, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it, however, became such by an amendment therеto, which was ratified on November 6, 1956 (Ga. L. 1956, p. 637), and for that reason is not here applicable. Since the petition shows that the proposed amendment was never legally ratified and that its provisions are being injuriously applied to- the petitioners, and others similarly situated, it necessarily follows that the judgment complained of is erroneous.
Judgment reversed.