Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-05-12
The Case Of Thirteen Mills School
Tax in the Supreme Court,

for school purposes was Carried up from
a court in Columbia county to the Su-
preme Court. IN shich an opinion vas
delivered on the question BY Judge
Gordon The leatned Judge says:
The Locust Mountain coal company
in its bill in this case, set forth inter
ala. that it is the owner of large tracts
of coal lands in Conyugham township,
Columbia cotnty. upon which, for school
purposes fof the year 1874, the appel
lants illegally levied tax of thirteen
mills upon each dollar Of the valuation
thereof. Whereas, by the act Of AS
sembly Of 1854, they have authority to
levy an amount not greater than that
which the law authorizes to be levied
for county purposes, to wit ten mills.
The court below adopted this view of
the case ard granted preliminary in
junction 20 restrain the collection of
the excess of said taxes over ten mills
4 careful examination of the act of
1854 compels US to dissent from this
conclusion. Section 30 Of that act re-
quires the County Commissioners to
furnish the president and secretary of
the school board /" with a correct copy
of the last adjusted valuation of proper
subjects and things made taxable in the
same for State and county purposes,
which said property, subjects and things
are hereby made taxable for school pur-
poses according to the provisions of
this act" This section furnishes to
the board of directors a schedule of
those objects upon which they may
assess their tax Now it matters not
that certain articief, found in these as
sessment lists, are taxable only for
county purposes, because ulI are made
taxable for school purposes without dis
tinction. ls es.-
The act refers IN general terms to
subject, taxable for State and county
purposes, in order that the valuations
may be uniform, and that those made
for the County Commissioners become
valuations for the school assessments
uniformity is thus obtained and ex-
penses avoided. Nevertheless the
school assessments are none the less
separate and independent because based
on the county aud State valuations
Let US select for example three sub
jects, pleasure carriages, lands and
horses the first liable only TO State,
the second only to county taxes, and
the third to both State and county
taxes-nH, however, are subjective to
school levies, and for such purposes
they form separate and independent
2 ScutuuIe dHu Tue sCuOOi OluCtT IL uOt
bound to know for which Of the above
named purposes they are taxable it is
enough that they are taxable for either.
/ Then, having the schedule, the next
inquiry is, What amount may be levied
thereon The 3lst section Of tho act
of 1854 furnishes the answer. " The
board Of directors shall
proceed to levy and apportion said
school tax, pursuant to this act, not ex-
ceeding the amount Of State and county
tax, authorized by Law, on all objects
made or to be made taxable
for State or county purposes" Now,
as the obvious grammatical structure of
this section requires that the first clause
be Immediately connected with the last,
and that the middle one be transposed
or read parenthetically, We may arrange
them thus: "Shall proceed to levy and
apportion said tax on all objects
made or TO be made taxable for State
or county purposes, not exceeding the
amount of State and county taxes au.
thor:,ed by law"
we can hardly conceive Of anything
more definite than this language. The
school director says have now law
full list of the subjects which may tax,
now what Is the amount l may levy I,
Answer An amount not exceeding
the amour,, that is, the aggregate, the
sum total Of the State and l. e. added
to ifor this conjunction implies additionl
the county tax. We are, therefore, TO
take the amount Of the county tax au-
thoriled BY law at the time when the
school tax is assessed, now ten mills,
and add thereto the amount of the
State tasj IN like manner authorized at
the time of said assessment, now three
mills, and their sum gives the maximum
rate for the school assessment.
| According to the construction con-
tended for by the appellee. the above
rule would apply only to articles taxa
be for both State and county purpose,
whilst another must bc adopted for
those taxable only Tor county, and a
third for such as are taxable only for
State purposes. Thus the tax on horses
must be thirteen mills, upon lands ten,
and upon watches and pleasure car
riages three mills. The objection to
this construction is that it destroys
both the uniformity and simplicity of a