State Ex Rel. United States Bank v. Gehner

5 S.W.2d 40, 319 Mo. 1048, 1928 Mo. LEXIS 542
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 11, 1928
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 5 S.W.2d 40 (State Ex Rel. United States Bank v. Gehner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. United States Bank v. Gehner, 5 S.W.2d 40, 319 Mo. 1048, 1928 Mo. LEXIS 542 (Mo. 1928).

Opinions

The two above-entitled causes, or proceedings, are original proceedings in certiorari, commenced in this court, in which the relators seek to quash the findings and orders of the Board of Equalization of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, made and entered on March 29, 1927, and the record of said Board of Equalization, relating to the assessment (as of June 1, 1926) of the shares of the capital stock of the United States Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, a banking corporation organized and existing under the laws of this State, and relating to the assessment (as of June 1, 1926) of the shares of the capital stock of the State National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, a banking corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the United States, which assessments were made by respondents for the purpose of taxing the shares of the capital stock of said banking corporations for the year 1927. The first cause (No. 28293) is brought at the relation of, and by, said United States Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, and Gustave W. Niemen, a shareholder of said banking corporation, as relators and petitioners. The second cause (No. 28294) is brought at the relation of, and by, said State National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, and George F. Cochran, a shareholder of said banking corporation, as relators and petitioners. The respondents in each of said proceedings are Fred Gehner, who was, and now is, the Assessor of the City of St. Louis, and who was, and now is, the ex-officio president of the Board of Equalization of said city, and four named individuals, who were the members of said Board of Equalization of said city, and who constituted said board at the time the assessments complained against herein were made.

The two proceedings, aforesaid, are submitted upon the pleadings filed in this court in each of said proceedings, consisting of the relators' application and petition for our original writ of certiorari; the respondents' return to our original writ (which return transmits to this court the record of said Board of Equalization relating to the assessments complained against herein), and relators' motion for judgment, which motion is in the nature of a demurrer to respondents' return to the writ of certiorari. The salient facts are not controverted, and they are clearly set forth in respondents' returns, and in the record of the Board of Equalization transmitted to this *Page 1051 court therewith, filed, respectively, in the above-numbered causes. Relators' motion for judgment, being in the nature of a demurrer to the return, admits the substantive facts pleaded in the return.

The return of respondents filed in Cause No. 28293 sets out,in haec verba, the findings and order of respondents, constituting the Board of Equalization of the City of St. Louis, made and entered by said board on March 29, 1927, relating to the assessment of the shares of the capital stock of relator United States Bank, which order, in part, is as follows:

"The Board finds and determines from the evidence that a blank return for state, city and school taxes for the year 1927 was duly served by the Assessor of the City of St. Louis upon the United States Bank of St. Louis, and that said corporation in due and proper time returned the form, on which appeared the following: Amount of capital, $1,000,000; amount of surplus and reserves, $521,921.98; amount of undivided profits, premiums and earnings, $66,261.75; total, $1,588,183.73, which said sum, from said return the Board finds, under the laws of the State of Missouri, is assessable for taxation purposes in the case of the United States Bank.

"The Board further finds and determines that the United States Bank had an item of `reserve for taxes' in the sum of $30,122.82, representing taxes accrued but not yet payable, and `reserve for interest,' representing interest accrued but not yet payable, in the sum of $5,764.83; total, $35,887.65, which items were not included in the return made by the bank and which items the Board finds are also assessable.

"The Board further finds and determines that the United States Bank, in making its return, was not entitled to deduct said sums as liabilities in arriving at the value of its shares for taxation, and, by reason of the foregoing facts so found by the Board, the Board orders and directs that the assessment as of June 1, 1926, against the shares of stock of the said United States Bank, be and it is hereby increased by adding to the list of property returned by said bank the said sum of $30,122.82, carried as reserve against taxes accrued on or prior to June 1, 1926, but not payable until after June 1, 1926, and the sum of $5764.83 on account of interest accrued on June 1, 1926, but not payable until after June 1, 1926, or a total of $35,887.65, thereby increasing the assessment of the shares of said bank from the said sum of $1,588,183.73, as shown by the return of said bank, to the sum of $1,624,071.38."

The return of respondents filed in Cause No. 28294 likewise sets out, in haec verba, the findings and order of respondents, constituting the Board of Equalization of the City of St. Louis, made and entered by said board on March 29, 1927, relating to the assessment of *Page 1052 the shares of the capital stock of relator State National Bank, which order, in part, is as follows:

"The Board finds and determines from the evidence that a blank return for state, city and school taxes for the year 1927 was duly served by the Assessor of the City of St. Louis upon the State National Bank of St. Louis, and that said corporation, in due and proper time, returned the form, on which appeared the following: Amount of capital, $2,000,000; amount of surplus and reserves, $500,000; amount of undivided profits, premiums and earnings, $298,863.38; total, $2,798,863.38.

"From which total is deducted interest in banking house, Security Building, Fourth and Locust streets, St. Louis, 1,000 shares of Security Building Company, $150,000; stock Federal Reserve Bank, $75,000; United States Liberty Bonds, $520,000; United States Treasury Certificates, $1,100; United States Treasury bonds, $4,680; total deductions, $750,780.

"The Board further finds and determines that of these deductions only the deduction on account of interest in the banking house is allowable, and said deduction is allowed, leaving a net of $2,648,863.38, which the Board finds, under the laws of the State of Missouri, is assessable for taxation purposes in the case of State National Bank.

"The Board further finds and determines from the evidence that the said State National Bank of St. Louis had an item of `Reserve for general state and school taxes for 1924, $62,387.26; for taxes for 1925, $66,834.65; for federal income taxes, $4927.91; total, $134,149.82, which was net included in the above return made by the bank and which item the Board finds is also assessable.

"The Board further finds and determines that the said State National Bank, in making its return, was not entitled to deduct said sums as liabilities in arriving at the value of its shares for taxation, and, by reason of the foregoing facts so found by the Board, the Board orders and directs that the assessment as of June 1, 1926, against the shares of stock of the said State National Bank of St. Louis be and it is hereby increased by adding to the list of property returned by the said State National Bank of St. Louis the several above disallowed deductions taken by the bank in its return, and that it be also increased by adding to the list of property returned by the State National Bank of St.

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Bluebook (online)
5 S.W.2d 40, 319 Mo. 1048, 1928 Mo. LEXIS 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-united-states-bank-v-gehner-mo-1928.