Corrie v. County of Contra Costa

242 P.2d 381, 110 Cal. App. 2d 210, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 1510
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 2, 1952
DocketCiv. No. 14913
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 242 P.2d 381 (Corrie v. County of Contra Costa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corrie v. County of Contra Costa, 242 P.2d 381, 110 Cal. App. 2d 210, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 1510 (Cal. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

GOODELL, J.

The 1949 Legislature enacted the “Alternative method of distribution of tax levies and collections and of tax sale proceeds” (Stats. 1949, ch. 1370, p. 2386; Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 4701-4716). Its purpose as section 4701 declares is “to provide an alternative procedure for the distribution of property tax levies on the secured roll made by counties on their own behalf or as the tax-levying and tax-collecting agency for other political subdivisions” and “to accomplish a simplification of the tax-levying and tax-apportioning process and an increased flexibility in the use of available cash resources.”

The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County by resolution declared its intention to adopt the new system where[211]*211upon appellant commenced this taxpayer’s suit, contending that the new law is in conflict with section 31 of article IV and section 18 of article XI of the Constitution, and therefore void. The court held otherwise and this appeal was taken.

Section 31 of article IV provides:

“The legislature shall have no power to give or to lend, or to authorize the giving or lending, of the credit of the state, or of any county ... or other political corporation or subdivision of the state ... in aid of or to any person, association, or corporation, whether municipal or otherwise, or to pledge the credit thereof, in any manner whatever, for the payment of the liabilities of any individual, association, municipal or other corporation whatever; ...”

Appellant contends that the new system conflicts with section 31 since it “allows a credit to a political subdivision of the full amount of its tax assessments”, and permits such subdivision “to expend the amount of the assessments before any such taxes are collected.” Appellant says by way of illustration: "Thus a political body, such as a school district, is given full credit before any tax is actually collected, and such body will draw on and receive county moneys before they are actually collected from taxes.”

The principal legal question is whether such action runs counter to the Constitution, and the principal practical question is whether there is any more danger of loss to the county and its taxpayers under the new system than under the old.

“All tax liens attach annually as of noon on the first Monday in March preceding the fiscal year for which the taxes are levied” (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 2192) and “Every lien . . . has the effect of an execution duly levied against the property subject to the lien” (§ 2193 id.).

After the board of supervisors fixes the tax rate (§ 2151 id.) it becomes the duty of the auditor to compute “in dollars and cents,” and to otherwise make up, the tax roll (§ 2152 id.). This completitin of the tax roll occurs about the end of August. Thus there comes into existence a complete showing of all taxes collectible for the current year, which are then a lien against all the property in the county subject to taxation.

Section 4705, Revenue and Taxation Code, one of the new sections, reads in part as follows: “Upon completion of the tax roll as prescribed by Section 2152 of this code the county auditor shall determine the total amount of taxes actually extended thereon for each fund for which a tax levy has been [212]*212included. The amount so determined for each fund shall forthwith be apportioned to the credit of such funds on the accounts of the county auditor and county treasurer and the total thereof shall be entered on the accounts of both officers as a charge to the tax resources account ‘tax collector— uncollected current taxes. ’ ”

Under the old system there is no such apportionment until the taxes are actually collected, but there is nothing in the Constitution prohibiting such action (which after all is simply a matter of bookkeeping entries) even though it occurs several months before collections start in November. However, section 4705 goes on to say that “The board of supervisors shall provide which moneys in the county treasury . . . shall be available to be drawn on to the extent of the amount of uncollected taxes credited to each fund for which a tax levy has been included, and such moneys may thereafter he drawn against in an amount not to exceed the amount of uncollected taxes credited to each fund for which a tax levy has been included in the same manner as if the amount credited had been collected.” (Italics added.)

This means that such advances may be made to the districts and political subdivisions in September, some weeks before the tax money starts to come in.

The immediate and pressing financial needs and requirements of many of the political subdivisions or revenue districts cannot wait upon the actual collection of taxes starting in November and running into April. School districts, where the monthly payrolls of teachers must be met, are a good example.

There is nothing new about this problem. The Constitution itself recognizes it (art. IV, § 31, supra) and section 3719, Political Code, provides one method of meeting it. However, respondents do not claim that the new sections derive their authority from section 31, of article IY. They stand on the proposition that under the new system “There is no lending of credit as the County has given nothing to the political subdivisions which is not rightly theirs. The uncollected taxes are assets of the County as well as of its political subdivisions ...” and respondents cite County of Los Angeles v. Payne, 8 Cal.2d 563, 577 [66 P.2d 658] where the court quotes approvingly from State ex rel. Barton v. Hopkins, 14 Wash. 59 [44 P. 134, 550], as follows: “Those [taxes] of the current year have been by the courts treated as a part of the [213]*213cash assets of the county for the reason that, in legal contemplation, their collection is certain . . . The legal certainty grows out of the fact that the law presumes that the taxes assessed upon the property, will be paid for the reason that the property is liable for the tax and can be sold if the tax is not paid. If this legal presumption is warranted as to taxes when they are assessed, there is no reason why such presumption should not continue until the property has been sold for the purpose of realizing the amount of taxes assessed against it.”

The Constitution (art. IV, § 31) says that “The legislature shall have no power to . . . authorize the giving or lending, of the credit of . . . any county ...” and appellant argues that under the new system “the county lends money to the political subdivision and may or may not thereafter receive that amount back in taxes actually collected.”

In our opinion the new system does not violate this provision against “lending” the credit of the county. A “loan” connotes an obligation to repay, but such is not the plan under this new system. It is rather a partial payment or advance on account of the share of tax money already allocated to the political subdivision which ultimately will go to such subdivision to meet its annual budget requirements. The deputy auditor characterized the transaction as an advance, whereupon the court said “But they have the assets to back up that advance, don’t they? . . . They have it assured; its prime security ...” The deputy testified also that in accounting practice uncollected taxes are treated as cash assets.

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Bluebook (online)
242 P.2d 381, 110 Cal. App. 2d 210, 1952 Cal. App. LEXIS 1510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corrie-v-county-of-contra-costa-calctapp-1952.