Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-03-03
CITY FINANCES.
Power of Exempting Certain Property
from Taxes Due.

trary and without legal authority
If l am wrong the question will be
brought under discussion and investi
cation and the facts presented fairly
and impartially.
In order that the matter may be full.
ly understood, will give the basis of
this article-the ordinance of the CITY
passed at the February meeting, viz:
Whereas, Under the construction of
the law of the State, that factories of
all kinds were exempt from tax, divers
manufactures have been located with
in the corporate limits of the city,
which would not have been done il
such construction had not been placed
upon the laws and,
Whereas, The city has invited such
investments, and desires to retain them
in its borders, and has refrained from
collecting any taxes therefrom, upon
the belief that the same was exempt
and,
Whereas, Good faith requires that
the honest belief of the manufacturer
and the corporate authorities should
be carried out therefore,
Be it ordained by the Board of Mayor
and Aldermen of the city of jackson,
that all claims on the part of the city
of Jackson for taxes due, or that might
have been due if the same had been
properly assessed, prior to the fiscal
year 1891, by the Capital City Oil
Works, the Enochs' Lumber and Man
ufacturing Company, the jackson Fer
tilizer Company, the Capital Fertilizer
Company, the Morris Ice Company,
and any other manufacturing company
in said city, be and the same is hereby
released and abated, and that said
manufacturers be and they are hereby
required to pay in full the taxes for
1891, and all to grow due hereafter.
Now, let us take this ordinance up
by paragraphs and discuss the facts j:
LIST. Whereas under the conStruc-
ton of the law of the State that all
factories were exempt from tax"
There could never have been any such
construction. Exemption was only
granted on conditions, to any factory !;
and release from taxes was in specific
terms and under specific conditions !;
one being that such factory had $4,000
or more invested, another that such
company had not declared per cent.
dividend, and these facts to be set out
by affidavit, when exemption was
claimed. The law would have applied
the same whether the factories had
been located here or elsewhere.-Acts
1872 and 1877.
2nd Whereas the city invited
these factories, is all proper and right,
and the desire to retain them also !; but
to shave refrained from collecting any
taxes therefrom upon the belief that
the same was exempt" was not legal.
/ submit that such belief, if exemption
could only be derived from the sworn af-
fidavits of the officers and of each of the
companies, each year, when they came
to claim such exemption. Were such
affidavits made and did the honorable
Board grant the exemptions to the fac
tories as authorized by law ? and upon
the showing required to be made by all
factories, where exemption from taxa
ton was demanded? To be exempt
they must come under the law granting
it.
Bird Whereas-"Good faith requires
that the honest belief of the manu-
facturer and corporate authorities
should be carried out" No question
about that in all legal ways, but be-
cause a manufacturer honestly be-
lieves" he is exempt from taxes, don't
therefore exempt him; something more
than that is required by the law. Nor
because the corporate authorities hon
estly believe" that any factories are ex-
empt from taxation, does not for that
reason, give them the power to remit
their taxes. The law points out eX-
plicitly how this is to be done.
have failed to find any special acts
exempting these companies. The Or
dinance is, therefore, perfectly nuga
tory, and void. LIST, because if the
companies were entitled to exemption,
have they made the showing required
by law a.? 2nd, for the still greater rea-
son, that under the decision of the
Supreme Court such factories were
never entitled to exemption under any
law.
Has it not been the plain duty of the
city collector to assess and collect
these taxes under chapter 3 page S6),
sec. property unassessed'-Of the
city charter? Then, if this property
was never exempted from tax by law
under any conditions, where does the
Board derive it's authority to release
and abate" taxes due and if they were
entitled to exemption, have proper af-
fidavits been made upon which the
Board could alone act ?
The law in these cases is to be found
in the acts of 1872, and section one of
said act recites-''In consideration of
the erection of factories, introduction
of machinery, furnishing and carrying
on factories to manufacture cotton and
wooden goods, agricultural machinery,
implements" etc, ''the State agrees
with all such companies whose capital
stock shall be at least $4,000 paid in"
and not in operation at the date of
said act, ''that all taxes to which said
company would otherwise be subject,
shall be exempted for ten years" "un-
less in the mean time the company
pays its debts and per cent. dividend,
In which case the exemption ceases.
page 65, act approved April LIST, 1872
1t was found that under this act that
the State and the tax payers were be-
ing imposed upon-taXation avoided,
by some companies having $4,000 or
more capital stock" but perhaps only
$1,000 and 5000 paid in, and again
others put in houses and lands, and
claimed exemption on thousands of
dollars worth of property, which was
of no operative use to such factory.
Hence the act of 1877, amended the
act of 1872, so that the exemption only
applied to 'capital stock paid in," man
ufactured goods, machinery and
Al L. \ =