Swanton Local School District Library v. Budget Commission

378 N.E.2d 139, 55 Ohio St. 2d 41, 9 Ohio Op. 3d 57, 1978 Ohio LEXIS 613
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 12, 1978
DocketNo. 77-896
StatusPublished

This text of 378 N.E.2d 139 (Swanton Local School District Library v. Budget Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Swanton Local School District Library v. Budget Commission, 378 N.E.2d 139, 55 Ohio St. 2d 41, 9 Ohio Op. 3d 57, 1978 Ohio LEXIS 613 (Ohio 1978).

Opinion

Locher, J.

The appellants, the budget commission, the Toledo-Lucas County Library District and Lucas County, have presented to this court contentions similar to those they raised before the board by their motion to dismiss the appeal. Essentially, appellants assert that the board lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to determine this dispute and that Swanton, because it was not entitled to participate in Lucas County’s classified property tax fund, lacked standing to appeal the budget commission’s determination.

The board found that it did have subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal, in which Swanton claimed that [44]*44the budget commission erred in failing to make an allocation to Swanton, a qualified participant in the classified property tax fund. R. C. 5703.02, which defines the powers and the duties of the board, provides, in pertinent part: “There is hereby created the board of tax appeals, which shall exercise the following powers and perform the following duties:

“(A) Exercise the authority provided by law to hear and determine all appeals of questions of law and facts arising under the tax laws of this state * * * including but not limited to appeals from:

“(1) Actions of county budget commissions.”

Not only is the participation by a public library board of trustees in the classified property tax found governed by R. C. 5705.28 and 5707.05, but this court has acknowledged the board’s authority to decide disputes concerning distribution of a county’s classified property tax fund to a school district public library. Finding that, pursuant to the provisions of R. C. 5707.05, a county lacks the option of refusing participation to a qualified board of library trustees, this court stated, in the second paragraph of the syllabus in Board of Trustees v. Budget Comm. (1974), 37 Ohio St. 2d 39, the following:

“Where the budget commission of a county fails to make an allocation to a qualified board of library trustees from the classified property tax fund of the county, the Board of Tax Appeals acts reasonably and lawfully in ordering an allocation to be made upon the basis of proportionate benefit received by the residents of the county.”

A stipulation of Swanton’s compliance with the requirements of R. C. 5705.28 and thus its qualification to participate in the classified tax fund, pursuant to R. C. 5707.05, was entered into by the parties during the board’s hearing.

Accordingly, we find that the board had subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal from the budget commission.

Appellants’ other argument is that Swanton lacked [45]*45standing to appeal the budget commission’s determination because it was not entitled to participate in the classified property tax fund of Lucas County. Appellants’ premise properly commences with recognition that the rule for determining which library districts are entitled to participate in a county’s classified property tax fund was espoused in Board of Trustees v. Budget Comm., supra. The first paragraph of the syllabus in that case provides:

“Where a school district public library extends its services to residents of a part of a county other than the county in which the permanent facility of the library is located, in such a manner as to meet the requirements of R. C. 5705.28, the board of library trustees is entitled to participate in the distribution of the classified property tax fund of such other county.”

Crucial to appellants’ theory is their next assertion that Swanton’s service area does not extend into Lucas County. It is at this juncture that a conflict with the board’s decision arises. The board determined that Swanton does service an area in Lucas County. Appellee, to the contrary, contends first that Swanton never did expand into Lucas County and secondly, if it did originally encompass a portion of Lucas County, later action by the State Library Board withdrew this area from Swanton.

Stating that Swanton is a school district public library established pursuant to R. C. 3375.15 and not R. C. 3375.14 (school library), as expressed in the board’s decision, appellants assert that, as a school district public library, Swanton’s boundaries were not expanded into Lucas County by the consolidation of the Swanton Local School District in 1959. This issue of whether a school district and a school district public library have conterminous boundaries upon the consolidation of a school district is not addressed by the General Assembly.2 Nor have the parties [46]*46cited any cases concerning this issue. There is a modicum of Ohio Attorney General opinions3, which afford a logical discourse of various relevant legal issues arising from a school district consolidation, but they have also apparently further added to the welter encircling this specific question.4 Upon a perusal of R. C. Chapter 3375, we agree that the board erred in its determination of the establishing statute. However, we are constrained to reject the assertion that Swanton’s boundaries were not enlarged by the school district consolidation in 1959. R. C. 3375.15 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

“In any school district in Avhich a free public library has been established, by resolution adopted by the board of education of such school district, prior to September 4, 1947, such library shall be under the control and management of a board of library trustees consisting of seven members. * * * A majority of such trustees shall be qualified electors of the school district, but a minority may be qualified electors of the county who reside outside the school district, and all shall be appointed by the board of education of the school district. Such trustees shall serve for a term of seven years and Avithout compensation. All vacancies on such board of library trustees shall be filled by the board of education by appointment for the unexpired term. * * *”

This section recognizes that a school district public library is created by the board of education. It provides for the governing of the library by a board of trustees appointed by the board of education and states that the board of education shall fill any vacancies which occur [47]*47during a term. Moreover, in addition to the county’s classified property tax, the board of education, upon certification of financial needs by the library’s board of trustees, may levy a tax within the school district to provide operating funds for the library, pursuant to R. C. 3375.17. It is thus evident that the school district public library board of trustees is an agency of the school district which creates it.

Subsequent to the consolidation of two or more school districts, the law views the expanded school district as a single district, distinct from its original component parts. See R. C. 3311.22, .231, .24 and .26. It would indeed be anomalous to conclude that this consolidation does in all instances, except for the school district public library, effect a corresponding change. To infer the result asserted by appellants would produce absurd results, devoid of any logic; i. e., the board of education for the consolidated school district could impose a tax, pursuant to R. C. 3375.-17, on the entire school district for the operation of a school district public library which serviced only a portion of that school district.

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Related

Board of Trustees v. Budget Commission
306 N.E.2d 422 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
378 N.E.2d 139, 55 Ohio St. 2d 41, 9 Ohio Op. 3d 57, 1978 Ohio LEXIS 613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swanton-local-school-district-library-v-budget-commission-ohio-1978.