State Ex Rel. Douglas v. State Board of Equalization & Assessment

286 N.W.2d 729, 205 Neb. 130, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1222
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 28, 1979
Docket42862
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 286 N.W.2d 729 (State Ex Rel. Douglas v. State Board of Equalization & Assessment) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Douglas v. State Board of Equalization & Assessment, 286 N.W.2d 729, 205 Neb. 130, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1222 (Neb. 1979).

Opinions

Brodkey, J.

This is an original action brought by the relator, the Attorney General of this State, against respondents, the State Board of Equalization and Assessment, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Auditor, the State Treasurer, and the State Tax Commissioner, challenging the constitutionality of an amendment to Article VIII, section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska. Respondents filed an answer admitting the facts alleged in relator’s petition, but denying relator’s conclusions drawn from those facts. Additional facts were stipulated to between the parties. Relator then moved for summary judgment. We sustain relator’s motion.

The amendment giving rise to this litigation resulted from action taken during a special session of [131]*131the Eighty-fifth Legislature, which convened on June 8, 1978. This special session was called by the Governor for the purpose of considering and, if deeming it advisable, enacting legislation relating to the following subjects: (1) To extend the operative date of section 328, L.B. 38, Eighty-fifth Legislature, First Session, 1977 (the Nebraska Criminal Code), to January 1, 1979. (2) To enact spending limitations on government budgets. During the special session, the Legislature adopted Legislative Resolution 1, which proposed an amendment to add the following language to Article VIII, section 1, of the Nebraska Constitution: “[W]hen a political subdivision authorized to levy a tax or cause a tax to be levied lies in two or more counties, and one or more of such counties have not completed a general reappraisal of all land and improvements within two years of one another, the State Board of Equalization and Assessment shall fix separate and distinct tax levies so that the county which has most recently completed a general reappraisal of all lands and improvements shall provide the same percentage of the political subdivision’s budget as it provided prior to such reappraisal. For all tax years commencing on or after January 1, 1981, the State Board of Equalization and Assessment shall not be empowered to fix separate and distinct levies but shall annually review and equalize assessments of property among counties.” The proposed amendment was submitted to the electorate at the November 1978, general election, adopted by them, and proclaimed by the Governor to be in ‘‘full force and effect as part of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska” on December 5, 1978. Relator, following leave granted by this court, instituted this original action on June 25, 1979. The State Board of Equalization and Assessment held hearings during July and August of 1979, and on August 6, 1979, ordered the equalization of tax assessments of property in various counties [132]*132in the state. On motion of the relator, this court, on August 21, 1979, entered a restraining order against the respondents prohibiting them from enforcing the provisions of the constitutional amendment in question during the pendency of the action. Respondents made no objection to the entry of the restraining order.

Under Rule 2 (b) of this court, the procedure in original actions, when commenced after leave to do so has been granted, shall be the same as in the District Court except as otherwise ordered. The rules relating to the granting of summary judgments in this state are well established and need not be repeated in detail. Section 25-1332, R. R. S. 1943, provides in part: “The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.’’ The facts involved herein have been admitted and stipulated to, and are not in dispute. It is clear, therefore, that relator’s motion must be granted if his position in this litigation is correct as a matter of law.

Relator’s argument against the validity of the amendment rests on two principal grounds. First, relator contends that the action of the Legislature in adopting Legislative Resolution 1 was void and in violation of Article IV, section 8, of the Nebraska Constitution, in that the submitting of such a constitutional amendment to the electors was not included in the purposes for which the special session of the Legislature was convened, as set forth in the Governor’s proclamation calling them into special session; and that said amendment was therefore not adopted in conformity to law, and is of no force and effect. Second, relator contends that the amendment in question is violative of several provisions of the United States and Nebraska Constitutions relat[133]*133ing to due process and equal protection of the laws. We shall examine these contentions in reverse order.

In this connection, relator contends that the amendment in question is violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is generally held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is applicable to state tax legislation and imposes considerable restraint upon state taxing power. 71 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, § 157, pp. 479, 480; 16A C.J.S., Constitutional Law, § 520, p. 382; Allied Stores of Ohio v. Bowers, 358 U. S. 522, 79 S. Ct. 437, 3 L. Ed. 2d 480 (1959); Kahn v. Shevin, 416 U. S. 351, 94 S. Ct. 1734, 40 L. Ed. 2d 189 (1974); Hillsborough v. Cromwell, 326 U. S. 620, 66 S. Ct. 445, 90 L. Ed. 358 (1946); Sioux City Bridge v. Dakota County, 260 U. S. 441, 43 S. Ct. 190, 67 L. Ed. 340 (1923). The amendment in question being an amendment to Article VIII, section 1, of our Nebraska Constitution, it is therefore necessary that we examine the amendment in question in light of the federal Constitution.

The effect of the Equal Protection Clause on the “uniformity” provision of Article VIII, section 1, was discussed in Sioux City Bridge v. Dakota County, supra, where the court stated: “[W]here it is impossible to secure both the standard of the true value, and the uniformity and equality required by law, the latter requirement is to be preferred as the just and ultimate purpose of the law.” The court held in that case: “[T]he right [under the Fourteenth Amendment] of the taxpayer whose property alone is taxed at 100 per cent of its true value is to have his assessment reduced to the percentage of that value at which others are taxed even though this is a departure from the requirement of statute.” The same rules requiring uniformity of taxation apply to rate of taxation as well as valuation.

This court has frequently interpreted the language [134]*134of Article VIII, section 1, of the Nebraska Constitution. In Gates v. Howell, 204 Neb. 256, 282 N. W. 2d 22 (1979), we stated: “In each instance, we have clearly and unequivocally found that the provisions of Article VIII, section 1, require not only that the valuation of property for taxation be uniform, but the rate as well. Peterson v. Hancock, 155 Neb. 801, 54 N. W. 2d 85.” (Emphasis supplied.) To the same effect, see, State ex rel. Meyer v. Peters, 191 Neb. 330, 215 N. W. 2d 520 (1974); Grainger Brothers Co. v. Board of Equalization, 180 Neb. 571, 144 N. W. 2d 161 (1966); Gamboni v. County of Otoe, 159 Neb. 417, 67 N. W.

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State Ex Rel. Douglas v. State Board of Equalization & Assessment
286 N.W.2d 729 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
286 N.W.2d 729, 205 Neb. 130, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-douglas-v-state-board-of-equalization-assessment-neb-1979.