Drainage District No. 2 v. Ada County

226 P. 290, 38 Idaho 778, 1924 Ida. LEXIS 177
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedApril 5, 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 226 P. 290 (Drainage District No. 2 v. Ada County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drainage District No. 2 v. Ada County, 226 P. 290, 38 Idaho 778, 1924 Ida. LEXIS 177 (Idaho 1924).

Opinion

McCARTIiY, C. J.

— The complaint in this case contains four causes of action. Cross-appellant is a drainage district situate in appellant, Ada county. Under the statutes applicable appellant’s treasurer and ex-ojficio tax collector [781]*781collected certain assesments levied by cross-appellant. In the first canse of action cross-appellant seeks to recover $1,639.43, which it alleges the said county treasurer deducted from the proceeds of assessments levied by cross-appellant and paid over to appellant as a collection fee or charge. A demurrer interposed by appellant to this cause of action was overruled. In the second cause of action cross-appellant seeks to recover fees in the amount of $154.36, which it alleges were paid by it under protest to Stephen Utter, appellant’s clerk of the district court and ex-officio recorder and auditor, in order to obtain from him certified copies of assessment-rolls required by the statutes to be filed in the office of the recorder. A demurrer interposed by appellant to this cause of action was overruled. In the third cause of action cross-appellant seeks to recover $2,266.58, interest on the proceeds of a sale of its bonds, committed to the custody of appellant’s treasurer and by her deposited in depositary banks in accordance with the statutes, said interest having been received by the county treasurer and deposited by her to the credit of the current expense fund of appellant. A demurrer interposed by appellant to this cause of action was sustained. In the fourth cause of action cross-appellant seeks to recover $1,579.79, being interest on the proceeds of a sale of its bonds deposited in depositary banks after the going into effect of chapter 256 of the Session Laws of 1921, said interest having been paid to the county treasurer and by her deposited to the credit of the current expense fund of appellant. A demurrer interposed by appellant to this cause of action was overruled. The parties declining to plead further, the court entered judgment for cross-appellant as prayed for on the first, second and fourth causes of action, and for appellant on the third cause of action. From this judgment appellant appeals to this court and cross-appellant appeals from the judgment in appellant’s favor on the third cause of action.

Appellant contends that all the causes of action were based upon claims against the county within the meaning [782]*782of C. S., sees. 3506, 3509 and 3513, that it was necessary to present these claims to the board of county commissioners, and that, if it denied them, cross-appellant’s only remedies were to appeal from the order of the board within twenty days or bring suit upon the claims within six months. Appellant also contends that the complaint does not sufficiently allege compliance with these provisions of the statutes. Each of the causes of action alleges that cross-appellant made written demand for payment in manner and form required by law, and that appellant declined to pay the same. If it be true, as contended by appellant, that these are claims against the county within the meaning of the statutes requiring presentation to the board of county commissioners, then the pleading is bad. In such cases the complaint must allege ultimate facts which show a compliance with the statutory requirements. The mere allegation that' a demand has been made as required by law is a conclusion of law and insufficient. (McCullough v. Colfax County, 4 Neb. (Unof.) 543, 95 N. W. 29; Biron v. Board of Water Commrs., 41 Minn. 519, 43 N. W. 482; First Nat. Bank v. Custer County, 7 Mont. 464, 17 Pac. 551; Rhoda v. Alameda Co., 52 Cal. 350; 15 C. J. 667.) We are not satisfied, however, that these causes of action are based upon claims against the county within the meaning of the statutes. In Village of Mountain Home v. Elmore County, 9 Ida. 410, 75 Pac. 65, this court held that the provisions of the statutes above referred to do not apply “to a municipality which claims twenty-five per cent of the road taxes collected against property situated within its corporate limits, and that such tax should be paid over by the county without the presentation of a claim therefor.”

In that case the court does not give a full statement of the reason for its conclusion. The true reason for it is suggested in the opinion on rehearing in Boise Valley Traction Co. v. Ada County, ante, p. 363, 222 Pac. 1035. There, in deciding whether the failure of appellant to bring its action within six months of the rejection of the claim by the [783]*783board of commissioners was fatal to its action, this court said:

“If the order had been one which the board lacked authority to make under any circumstances it would have been void on its face and the present action would have been proper.”

The principle supporting the decision in Village of Mountain Home v. Elmore County, supra, is the following: The phrase “claim against the county,” as used in the above statutes, applies only where there is something for the commissioners to pass upon, involving the exercise of discretion on their part, that is to say where, under certain circumstances, they might be justified in rejecting the claim. It does not apply to a case where the liability and its extent are so clearly fixed by positive provisions of the statutory law that the question becomes purely one of law, leaving nothing for the commissioners to pass upon, and no room for the exercise of discretion. Such are the cases presented by the causes of action in the complaint. Whether or not cross-appellant is entitled to recover on them, or any of them, depends upon the decision of a clear-cut question of law, involving the application of statutes to a definite state of facts, and leaving no room for discretion. If the statutes apply, appellant has violated them by appropriating or extorting cross-appellant’s money for its own purposes. We therefore conclude that these causes of action are not based upon claims within the meaning of the statutes requiring presentation to the board of county commissioners.

We will first consider whether the court erred in overruling appellant’s demurrer to the first cause of action. C. S., sec. 3224, provides:

“All taxes of every city, town, village, school district or other district or municipality, levied according to law and certified in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, shall be collected and paid into the county treasury and apportioned to such city, town, village, school district or other district or municipality: Provided; That 1% per cent of all taxes collected and paid into the county treasury for [784]*784©very incorporated city, town or village, and every independent school district, and every other district or municipality having a treasurer whose duty it is to receive, keep and disburse all moneys belonging to such incorporated city, town, village, independent school district or other district or municipality, shall be apportioned to the county current expense fund, which apportionment shall be in full for all services of all county officers in the levy, computation and collection of such taxes.”

Appellant contends that under this section it was entitled to charge a collection fee of one and one-half per cent.

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Bluebook (online)
226 P. 290, 38 Idaho 778, 1924 Ida. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drainage-district-no-2-v-ada-county-idaho-1924.