124 Va. 91 | Va. | 1918
delivered the opinion of the court.
This suit was brought by F. H. Chandler and P. N. Jarrett to enjoin the town of Strasburg from collecting certain municipal taxes on real estate owned by them and alleged to be situate outside of the territorial limits of the town, and to recover certain similar taxes theretofore paid by them. The decree complained of denied a recovery for the taxes already paid, but held that the property was not within the corporate boundaries, and accordingly awarded a perpetual injunction against the future enforcement of such taxes.
Strasburg is a very old town, and its existence is recognized in a number of acts of the General Assembly, but in the determination of its boundary lines only! two of these acts are material. The first is the act of February, 1858 (Acts 1855-6, page 180), which, so far as material here, is as follows:
“Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the town of Strasburg, in the county of Shenandoah, as the same has heretofore been laid off into lots, streets and alleys, and as the same shall be hereafter laid off into lots, streets and alleys, shall be and the same is hereby made a town corporate by the name of the town of Strasburg.” (Italics added.)
This brings us to the consideration of an act of March 19, 1884 (Acts 1883-4, page 739), amending or changing the charter of Strasburg, and, according to the contention of its counsel, so extending the limits of the town as to include the property in question. That act, so far as it need be here set out, reads as follows:
“1. The town of Strasburg, in the county of Shenandoah, as heretofore laid off and as may hereafter be extended, shall continue to be a body politic under the name of the corporation of Strasburg, etc.” (Italics added.)
It is clear from the record before us that the words “as heretofore laid off,” in the act of 1884, must refer either to the corporate limits as established by the act of 1856 and evidenced by the old map of 1847, thus excluding the com
Both acts apparently intended to provide for future enlargements of territory by the action of the municipality itself. Without passing upon the validity and efficiency of this feature of the enactment, it is worthy of note that the words, “as the same shall hereafter be laid off into lots, streets and alleys,” in the act of 1856, appear to emphasize the restriction of the area incorporated to land actually subdivided as town property, while the words “as may hereafter be extended,” in the act of 1884, appear to emphasize the elimination of any such restriction.
Upon some points, the parol testimony is conflicting, but viewing all the evidence, direct and circumstantial, as a whole, we think the preponderance of it shows that the Mclnturff survey was made in the early ’80’s prior to the passage of the act of 1884; that this survey was made at
Undoubtedly, the town authorities in good faith believed that the property of the complainants was situate within the corporate limits, and this belief was shared by the complainants themselves. The complainant, Chandler, bought the lots now owned by him and involved in this litigation in about 1906, when he built upon them, and began to pay taxes to the town. Thereafter he continued to vote for town officials and upon all town questions, until shortly before this suit was brought. In the course of his testimony, he says: “I was sincere in the matter—thought I was within the town until I found that there were no records to show I was in. I quit voting and paying taxes.” The complainant, Jarrett, has resided upon the property owned by him and here involved since about the year 1890, and it is in proof in the case that until a comparatively recent date, he has been participating in town elections. He served one or more terms himself as a member of the town council. The decree under review, while reaching a conclusion different from ours as to the true location of the corporate limits, denies the complainants any right to recover taxes previously paid on the ground that such taxes had been paid voluntarily, and recites the following facts which are well established by the evidence and which we deem quite pertinent in this immediate connection: “That the complainants prior to the levy of taxes, the collection of which are enjoined, recognized themselves as living within the corporate limits of Strasburg, voted in its municipal elec
Considerable reliance seems to be placed by complainants upon a map of the town of Strasburg introduced by them and found in a printed atlas of the counties of Shenandoah and Page. This map conforms very nearly to the lines of the old map of 1847, and does not include the property now owned by the complainants. Inasmuch as this map was made in 1885, and has been in general use since as a plat of the town, complainants insist that it affords convincing proof of the correctness of their contention. We do not think so. The map was made as a private enterprise, and did not purport to do more than show the lots, streets and alleys of the town. The witness, J. W. Etoerly, a resident and official of the town who assisted in making the map and who was interested in the project of completing the atlas of the counties of Page and Shenandoah, testified that he knew of the previous Melnturff survey, and also knew, at the time, that the map of 1885 was being made in a way which would not embrace the property now
Upon the whole case, we are of opinion to reverse the decree complained of and enter in this court a decree dissolving the injunction and dismissing the complainants’ bill.
Reversed.