129 P. 283 | Cal. | 1912
Plaintiff is a resident within Bret Harte Union High School district. His property, being wholly within said district, was assessed for the support of said union high school and likewise for the Calaveras County High School. Deeming the latter assessment improper he tendered to the tax-collector of the county the amount of his tax less the sum demanded for county high school purposes. The tender being refused he deposited the money so tendered in bank to the credit of the tax-collector and gave notice to that official, all in accordance with section
Prior to the formation of the Bret Harte Union High School district, the Calaveras County High School District was formed, including territorially, the whole of the county of Calaveras. All of the property within the county was taxed for the support of that district. Appellants are of the opinion that, (1) the exemption of the property within the Bret Harte Union High School district would be a fraud upon the owners of the remaining property of the county, and an unconstitutional confiscation of their property; that, (2) the people of the Bret Harte High School district are estopped from questioning the legality of the tax for the county high *400 school; and that, (3) the union district was never legally formed.
It is conceded that the provisions of the Political Code in existence at the time of the formation of the Bret Harte Union High School district exempted the property in such a district from taxation for the support of a county high school, but such exemption is attacked by appellants as being in violation of subdivision 20 of section 25 of article IV of the constitution, which prohibits local laws exempting property from taxation, and section 11 of article I requiring all laws of a general nature to have a uniform operation. Prior to 1909 the law with reference to the establishment and maintenance of county high schools provided (sec. 1671 of the Pol. Code as it then stood) as follows: "There may be established in any county in this state one or more county high schools; provided, that at any general or special election held in said county after the passage of this act, a majority of all the votes cast at such election, upon the proposition to establish a high school, shall be in favor of establishing and maintaining such county high school or schools at the expense of said county." Appellants contend that this language involves the inclusion of the whole county within the county high school district — that the words "county high school" mean exactly what they import — a school for the use of the inhabitants of the county. It will be noted, however, from an examination of the section, that while the school is to be maintained at the expense of the county, the statute does not provide that all of the electors of the county shall or may participate in the election nor that it shall be held throughout the county. Former section 1670, by subdivision 20 thereof, provided:
"Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing all of the school districts in any county from uniting to form one or more county high schools; provided, that when any city, incorporated town, school district, or union high school district shall vote to maintain a high school, such territory shall be exempt from taxation to support a county high school; and provided further, that when any city, incorporated town, school district, or union high school district shall establish a high school prior to the submission of the proposition to establish a county high school, the electors of such city, incorporated town, school district, or union high school *401 district shall be excluded from voting upon said proposition; provided further, that in counties where one or more city high schools, district high schools, or union district high schools, are maintained, the board of supervisors shall, upon the petition of two-thirds of the heads of families in a city high school district, district high school district, and in each school district composing the union high school district or districts, if there be more than one in the county, submit to all the qualified electors of the county the question of establishing and maintaining a county high school, and shall take such further steps as provided in section sixteen hundred and seventy-one of this act, relating to high schools. If the majority of all the votes cast on the proposition to establish a county high school are in the affirmative the board of supervisors shall, upon the establishment of the same, declare the high school or high schools existing in the county at the time of the election for a county high school, to be lapsed and the property of such lapsed high school or schools shall be held or sold by the board of supervisors for the benefit of the county high school."
By the fourth subdivision of former section 1671 the board of supervisors in providing for the special tax therein authorized was limited in making the levy to "all of the assessable property of the county, except as provided in subdivision twentieth of section one thousand six hundred and seventy of the Political Code." The above quoted provisions indicate that the legislature did not intend that a union high school district should be taxed for the support of its own school and for the maintenance of another school within the county. The two kinds of districts did not differ materially in the manner of formation. One was governed by the county board of education and the other by a district board, but there was and is no essential difference in the manner of their conduct and control. It has been held that a city school district is a corporation of a quasi municipal character and though its territorial limits may be actually coterminous with those of a city, its identity is not thereby lost nor merged in that of the city. (Los Angeles School District
v. Longden,
The principal argument of appellants against the constitutionality of the sections under review is based upon the statement that the county high school was and is kept open for the benefit of the inhabitants of the entire county, and that, therefore, the property in said county should be subject to taxation for its support. It is true that prior to the amendments of 1909 the ninth subdivision of section sixteen hundred and seventy-one of the Political Code contained this language: "All county high schools shall be open to the admission of graduates holding diplomas from the grammar schools of the county, and to all pupils of the county who can pass the examination for admission. The examination for admission shall be conducted by the county board of education and the principal of the county high school." This, however, was merely a declaration of the scholastic requirements for admission to a county high school. The matter of attendance *404 was regulated elsewhere, for subdivision 25 of section 1670 of the Political Code was as follows: "When, in consequence of distance or of convenience in traveling, it is more convenient for pupils residing in any high school district to attend the high school in another high school district, the high school board of the latter district may admit such pupils to the high school in their district upon such terms as the two boards may arrange." This provision has been practically retained in section 1751 of the Political Code adopted in 1909. We can find no reason, either in the former or the present statutes applicable to high schools, why the word "district," as used therein, did not apply to territory to be served by county high schools as well as by union high schools.
The taxes for the support of schools are in their nature special taxes and the legislature has the power to limit their assessment to the property within the respective districts to be served. (Chico High School Board v. Board of Supervisors,
The people within the Bret Harte Union High School district were not estopped to deny the validity of the tax in question. No special facts constituting estoppel are pleaded and the general circumstance that the tax had been paid formerly without protest was not sufficient to prevent plaintiff from denying its validity. It was void and could not be cured by the application of the doctrine of estoppel. (Raisch v. City and County of SanFrancisco,
The final contention of appellants is that the Bret Harte Union High School district has no legal existence because of the failure of those seeking to create it to comply with all the requirements of the law. There are two complete answers to this objection to the recognition of the district. The first is that the existence of the union district as a de facto high school district cannot be attacked collaterally. (Hancock v. Board ofEducation,
For the reasons above set forth the judgment is affirmed.
Henshaw, J., and Lorigan, J., concurred.
Hearing in Bank denied.