107 P. 482 | Or. | 1910
delivered the opinion of the court.
“To collect road tax from all property in said corporation equal to that now levied by law for road purposes, to be expended upon highways, streets and alleys within said corporation under the supervision of the common council, and the citizens and property within said corporation shall be exempt from the same taxes for county road purposes.”
Plaintiff contends, first, that the words “now levied by law” should be construed so as to mean “now or hereafter levied by law”; in other words, that the intention of the legislature was to give the city the benefit of any increase that might be made in the amount of the levy by subsequent legislation. We are unable to find any authority for such an interpretation. The word “now” has a fixed and definite meaning. It signifies “.at the present time,” at a time contemporaneous with something done. Pike v. Kennedy, 15 Or. 420 (15 Pac. 637); Chapman v. Holmes’ Executors, 10 N. J. Law, 20-26; King v. Miller, 53 Or. 53 (97 Pac. 542.) When used in a statute referring to other statutes, it will be construed as having reference to the statute then in force. Beard v. Smith, 22 Ky. 430.
Under the ruling of this court in Eugene v. Lane County, 50 Or. 468 (93 Pac. 255), the plaintiff is entitled to that portion of the tax collected by the county represented by iy% mills on the dollar of its taxable property, and it appears that this, and more, was tendered to it and was refused.
Te decree of the circuit court is reversed, and the writ dismissed. Reversed.