24 A.2d 474 | Conn. | 1942
The plaintiffs in this case are the town and fire district of Windsor. They are authorized to join by the provisions of General Statutes, Cum. Sup. 1935, 394c. They brought this action to foreclose tax liens upon certain tracts of property which belonged to Laurence L. Bedortha, who died on May 19, 1926. The defendants, George Q., Alfred C. and Clara R. Bedortha, are his children and heirs-at-law and the executors, trustees, beneficiaries and devisees under his will. At the trial they appeared in person and without counsel. After a full hearing, judgment was entered by the court fixing the amount of the debt and granting foreclosure. Inasmuch as there appeared to be large equity in the property over and above the *553 debt due, the court allowed the defendants a year to redeem. From this judgment the defendants have appealed, appearing in this court in person, and George Q. Bedortha was fully heard on his own behalf and on behalf of the other defendants.
The essential facts appearing from the finding, with such corrections as we can make in it, and from the exhibits made a part of it are these: At the date of his death, Laurence L. Bedortha was the owner of two pieces of land in Windsor. The first piece, containing twelve and six-tenths acres, more or less, touches the highway known as Poquonock Avenue at three separate points. The second tract, containing sixteen and seven-tenths acres, more or less, was acquired by him from H. Sidney Hayden. The defendants have chosen from time to time to describe certain parts of the first tract as small distinct units listed and bounded respectively as Lots 13, 10, 7, and 7A. The estate of Laurence L. Bedortha has never been distributed or finally disposed of by the Court of Probate. Since his death, tax lists of the property which he had owned have been filed in the name of his estate, signed by A. C. Bedortha as executor. Many of the lists describe the lands assessed, and the liens filed against the lands contained a similar description. The assessment list filed in 1935 included certain buildings, a lot the dimensions of which were given but which was not otherwise described and a certain tract of land by acreage which was described; the town filed two liens based upon this list, one against the lot and the other against the tract designated by acreage, with the buildings. In several instances the lands were not described on the lists, but descriptions were given in the liens based upon them. The lists covering the tract containing sixteen and seven-tenths acres sometimes described it and sometimes *554 did not; the liens filed by the town gave a description of the property corresponding to that on the lists where it appeared there, but those filed by the fire district contained; descriptions in no way corresponding to those on the lists. In each year the total assessment upon the various lots as listed represented the assessment upon the entire property of the defendants and in no instance was any piece assessed more than once. On the list of 1936 certain property, including machinery, was held by the court to be personal and to be erroneously included in the certificate of lien on Lots 10 and 13; and on the lists of 1937 and 1938 similar property was held to be erroneously included upon the twelve and six-tenths acre piece. The proportion of the tax and interest attributed to such personal property was deducted by the trial court in determining the debt due in each year. The Windsor Trust Company is a state bank and trust company chartered by a special act of the General Assembly prior to March, 1917, and was authorized by the tax collectors of the town and fire district, respectively, to act as their agent. The certificates continuing the tax liens in question in this case for the various years were signed by the Windsor Trust Company as agent for the respective tax collectors. The defendants have made many claims of law before us but we shall discuss only such of them as merit attention.
It appears that the estate of Laurence L. Bedortha has not been distributed or finally disposed of by the Court of Probate. General Statutes, 1131, permits the property to be set in the tax list "in the name of such estate, or of the trustee, administrator or executor thereof, as such, at his option." White v. Portland,
The Windsor Trust Company as a state bank and trust company was empowered by General Statutes, 3885, to "act as the agent of any duly qualified treasurer of any town, city, borough, school or other taxing district or of any duly qualified collector of taxes in the collection of taxes when authorized by such treasurer or collector of taxes so to act." This power was first conferred upon state banks and trust companies in 1927. Public Acts, 1927, Chap. 251. It appears in the revision of 1930 as 3885 and in Cum. Sup. 1939 as 1203e. It was in force during the entire period relating to the taxes in this case. It appears that the trust company was authorized by the collectors in each of these years to act as their agent. It is true that tax collectors are elected officers and they cannot authorize an agent to take over matters involving the exercise of discretionary powers, for that would be to vest in others the authority which has been entrusted to them by vote of the electors. Hitchcock v. Galveston,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.