92 Wis. 599 | Wis. | 1896
In the case of Jones v. Kolb, 56 Wis. 263, the relations that had existed between towns and incorporated villages situated in such towns, prior to the enactment of oh. 40, R. S. 1878, and the policy of the state on this subject, were very fully considered, with a view to the construction and effect of said chapter; and the court arrived' at the conclusion that it was “ the undoubted intention of' the legislature in enacting said chapter, prescribing the manner of organizing villages within this state, and defining the powers, duties, and privileges which such villages so organized should have, exercise, and enjoy, that when so organized they should be separate and independent municipal-corporations;” and it was held that a resident and elector of a village so organized was not authorized to vote for-town officers at the town meetings of the town within the-limits of which the territory composing the village was situ--ated, and that ch. 40, R. S., was a valid enactment.
Subsequently, by ch. 391, Laws of 1887 (S. & B. Ann. Stats, sec. 870a), ch. 40, R. S., was amended so as to confer upon incorporated villages or cities, not existing under special charter, the power to assess and collect all taxes within ■the same, levied and assessed for all purposes, and, to that ■end, said ch. 391 provided for the election of an assessor in such cities and villages, and the making of assessments and tax rolls therein, and, by sec. 3, that “ the electors residing within any incorporated village that assesses and collects the taxes under the provisions of this act shall not he legal voters at any town meeting held in the town in which said village ■is situated; ” and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with ■said act were repealed.
This act was followed by ch. 341, Laws of 1889 (sec. 870ii, •S. & B. Ann. Stats.), relating to villages incorporated under ■ch. 40, R. S., and acts amendatory thereof, and “ declaring the proper construction of ch. 391, Laws of 1887,” which provided that “ until proceedings have been taken under 'this chapter for the purpose of determining whether any village organized under chapter 40 of the Revised Statutes, •and a town within which such village may be situated, shall
The question is whether the village of West Salem ever became an independent municipality from the town of Hamilton, in which it is situated. In State ex rel. Wannemaker v. Alder, 87 Wis. 554, it was held that the test of separation between a town and a village situated within it is whether the village has elected an assessor pursuant to the provisions of said act of 1887; but that was a case where such determination by the election of an assessor had been made in 1888, and before the act of 1889. In the present case the village of West Salem was not incorporated until after the act of 1889,— July 8, 1893. Had this village a right, under the act of 1889, without a vote of both the city and vil
The contention on the part of the relator is that the village was an independent municipality, as declared by sec. 1 of the act. Under that section, until a vote should be taken on the question whether the • town and village should be separate and independent municipalities, or united for town purposes, “ all villages which home elected an assessor pursuant to chapter 391 of the Laws of 1887, shall be separate,” etc. The act of 1889, of necessity, had to deal with the existing status of villages situated in towns, and to make provision for cases arising in the future. To that end, sec. 1 deals with what had already occurred, and declares that “ all villages which have not elected an assessor ” pursuant to the act of 1887 “ shall be deemed to be a part of the town for town purposes, the same as though said chapter ” had not been enacted. The general policy indicated by the act was to make the question, in which they were both alike interested,— whether such towns and villages in the future should be separate and independent municipalities, or united for town purposes,— one requiring the action of the electors of both the town and village, acting separately, for its determination ; and it was intended to preserve the status where a village, by its own action merely in electing an assessor before the act of 1889 was passed, had already settled that matter, and at the same time to provide a new and uniform rule as to all cases arising after the enactment of 1889. It was not, we think, intended that a village incorporated after this act was passed should have the power to determine in
In view, therefore, of the language of the act, past legislation, and the obvious scope and policy of the act of 1889, we must hold that at the time the town meeting was held in the town of Hamilton, in 1894, the village of West Salem was united with such town for town purposes. It follows that the thirty-two votes cast for the defendant by electors residing in such village were legal votes, and the circuit ■court rightly held that the defendant was legally elected town clerk.
By the Court.— The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.