In re Gypsy Oil Co.

142 Okla. 291
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in In re Gypsy Oil Co.. Read the opinion of the Court — 141 Okla. 291
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided December 10, 1929·No. No. 20363·Published

Opinion

ANDREWS, J.

The Gypsy Oil Company, a corporation, protested certain tax levies made by the county excise board of Tulsa county for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1928, as being illegal and excessive, and (presented evidence in support thereof to the Court of Tax Review. Protestant and protestee each appealed from the judgment rendered. The three grounds of protest involved in these appeals will be considered separately.

The third ground of protest involves the constitutionality of chapter 48, S. L. 1923-24, and the legality of the levy made for county highway purposes, which is alleged to be excessive, illegal, and void, first, because of tfee unconstitutionality of chapter 48, Id., and second, because of a failure to publish an itemization of the estimated needs for county highway purposes.

The Court of Tax Review disallowed this protest and protestant appealed. These contentions were before this court in cause No. 19698 Grubb v. Smiley, 142 Okla. 19; 285 Pac. 38, wherein we held that chapter 48, Id., was constitutional and that the estimate and appropriations for county highway purposes was required to be itemized as provided in sections 9695 and 9698, C. O. S. 1921. The record in this case shows that the board of county commissioners attempted to follow a procedure which was legal under the rule announced and that 42 items were specifically listed and estimates and appropriations were made for each, but that seven items, aggregating $99,146.97, included in the financial estimate and statement were omitted [293]*293irom the publication of the financial statement and estimate. We have then the additional question of the effect of the failure to publish these items as required by law. This court in Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Pourron, 118 Okla. 80, 246 Pac. 835, had under consideration a levy which was based on an appropriation, the amount of which had been increased by the excise board, over the amount of the estimate, without advertising, and this court said:

“The county excise board is without authority to increase an estimate made by a township for road dragging expense, unless the proposed increase be first advertised, as provided by section 9698, C. O. S. 1921.”

In Pitts v. First Nat. Bank of Muskogee, 138 Okla. 284, 281 Pac. 133, this court said:

“Every municipality must submit its budget to the excise board of their respective counties. City of Sapulpa v. Land, 101 Okla. 22, 223 Pac. 640; Oklahoma News Co. v. Ryan, 101 Okla. 151, 224 Pac. 969; Ryan v. Roach Drug Co., 113 Okla. 130, 239 Pac. 918; Ryan v. Cook Building & Improvement Co., 118 Okla. 78, 239 Pac. 919; Jones v. Kennedy, 118 Okla. 224, 247 Pac. 53.’’

AVe call attention to the concluding words of section 9712, C. O. S. 1921, as follows:

“* * * And no levy for any purpose shall be valid, unless made according to the provisions of this article.”

It appears from the evidence that the total amount of the estimate for county highway purposes included the amount of the items which were not published, and the Court of Tax Review held that the failure to include these seven items in detail in the published statement was not sufficient to invalidate the appropriation.

In our opinion, the requirement of our statute for itemization is mandatory, and that it is equally mandatory that there be a publication thereof. The taxpayers were entitled to know that these seven township culverts were to he constructed, and the failure to include these seven items in the published notice invalidates the appropriation to the amount of these seven items.

The protestee calls attention to the opinion of this court No. 18588, Turner et al. v. Cox, 138 Okla 225, 280 Pac. 568, as sustaining its contention. The record in that ease shows that under the heading “XX Constructive” there was the item “New Bridges $6,674,” and that under the heading “IX W Roads and Bridges” each item for which an estimate was made was separately itemized. That presented a condition entirely different from that disclosed by the record in this case. Here there was no publication of the items. In that case the defendant in error in his brief said:

“An examination of the estimate sheet will disclose that each item appropriated under this section was itemized to the extent that the exact amount to be used for the construction of roads, construction of hard-surfaced roads, and for the construction of bridges was shown.”

The case of Turner v. Cox, 138 Okla. 225, 280 Pac. 568, is not an authority on the point involved here. The Court of Tax Review erred in rendering judgment in favor of the protestee on this third ground of protest, and that judgment is reversed.

The fourth ground of protest involves a levy for the sinking fund for school district No. 22, Tulsa county.

This is discussed in the brief under three propositions, the first of which involves the interest and commission on outstanding bonds maturing during the next fiscal year. Protestee appealed from the judgment holding the appropriation excessive and presents two contentions: First, that it was authorized to permit a deduction from the balance on hand in the sinking fund on June 30, 1928, of an amount sufficient io pay interest coupons maturing after July 1, 1928, and prior to January 1, 1929: and, second, that the money had been remitted to the fiscal agency at Now York, and therefore was not a balance on hand.

The county treasurer is authorized tio deposit the funds under his control in certain banks, including the bank designated by the Governor as a fiscal agency, hut the fact that tlie treasurer has deposited a part of the funds in the fiscal agency is no more reason for deducting that amount from the balance on hand than for deducting therefrom the amount deposited in a local bank. In determining the balance "on hand there must be included funds deposited with the fiscal agency.

This court, in cause No. 20142, Coggeshall & Co. v. Smiley, 142 Okla. 8, 285 Pac. 48, announced the rule which is controlling, and held:

“An excise board is without authority of law to make an appropriation for the payment of interest on outstanding bonded indebtedness which matures subsequent to the fiscal year for which the appropriation is made.’’

[294]*294Our attention is now called to section 4237, O. O. S. 1921, which requires a sufficient sum of money to be remitted to the state agency at least 15 days before the maturity of any bond or coupon payable in New York City, and it is now argued that a levy ■would have to be made during the preceding year in order to have the funds on hand to remit. We do not question the effect of that section, but we find nothing therein fixing the date of maturity of bonds. That section presupposes that public officials will fix bond maturities at a time when funds will be available for the payment of the interest 15 days prior to the maturity thereof. It is further contended that, because a tax was illegally collected during the preceding year, it must, under section 19, art. 10, of the Constitution, be used for the purpose for which it was collected. We do not so understand that section. Where money has been collected and is on hand at the close of a fiscal year and there is no valid claim against it, it becomes a part of the balance on hand in the fund for which it was collected, and must be carried over into the next fiscal year as a balance in that fund.

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In re Gypsy Oil Co., 142 Okla. 291 (Okla. 1929).

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