The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-09-08
State Taxation and Appropriations

State Taxation and Appropriations.
Six million dollars within the last
four years is the sum appropriated and
expended In violation of the constit,i-
t1onal power to tax and expend the peo-
pies money. That power is IAN annual
tax for annual ordinary expenses only
the words ordinary expenses" limits
the power to tax and appropriate. s
The language of the constitution is
AN annual tax sufficient to defray the
estimated ordinary expenses Of the state
for each year and whenever such or
binary expenses for any year exceed the
Income for such year, the legislature
shall levy tax the ensuing year to pay
the deficiency of the preceding year."
The words "fOr each year. qualities
"ordinary expenses" and is equivalent
to annual ordinary expenses" hence it
Is an annual tax for annual ordinary
expenses. The word sufficient" applies
to and limits the amount of the tax, be-
cause the succeeding clause provides for
q deficiency tax and the sufficiency must
be measured by the estimate. The ele-
ments are in the words estimated, or
binary expenses, tax and sufficient.
There must be an estimate. This esti-
mate must be of the ordinary expenses.
The tax must be sufficient to pay this
estimate and if not sufficient, a def
cheney tax must be levied the ensuing
year. Hence the plain and honest mea1,-
Ing and working of this provision of
the constitution is that an estimate Of
the ordinary expenses yearly for two
years is made by the state auditor or
legislature and then IAN annual tax" is
levied to defray this estimated expense.
If the expenses happen to be more than
the tax or income, then deficiency
tax must be levied the ensuing year.
Nothing is palmer. The tax is limited
to ordinary expenses. The ordinary ex-
penses must be estimated in advance
and the tax must be sufficient to uetray
that estimate, and is the same as say
ing: THE legislature shall estimate the
ordinary expenses and levy a tax suffi-
cient to defray the same
The South Carolina constitution Is the
same as the Minnesota constitution on
this subject. In the bond debt cases,
II, S. G. $50, one of the questions con-
sidered was whether or not an act au-
thorizing loan to redeem outstanding
obligations was constitutional as an Or
binary or extraordinary expense. The
court said that the word ordinary as
used in the constitution in the sense Of
current Or usual expenditures and the
word extraordinary is used in contra
distinction to the word ordinary. After
thus providing for the expense of the
state government designated as ordinary
in the sense of current annual expenses,
the constitution provides for extraordi-
nary expenditures by contracting public
debts, which is for all expenditures as
do not fall within the class of ordinary
current annual expenses. Hence ordi-
harry expenses are limited to current
annual expenses for administering the
state government and all other expenses
are extraordinary.
Chief Justice Willard said that ordi-
nary expense were limited to the current
annual expenses of the state and extra
ordinary expenses are those which do
not in their nature constitute ordinary.
The legislature cannot create a debt by
borrowing in anticipation of taxes or
other current revenue, because the con-
stitution provides for meeting such de-
ficiency. The power to tax is limited.
Prohibitory language is not necessary,
because when power is granted for the
purpose of bringing into existence spe-
cific rights, the mode in which that
power is required to be exercised is ma
terial to the creation of such rights and
the provisions are mandatory. Haskell.
j., said the constitution carefully de-
fines the ordinary expenses and leaves
to the extraordinary expenditure every
expense not within the word ordinary.
If it is current expense for the support
OF the government 1t is ordinary and if
any other expense, it is extraordinary.
This court Therefore holds: 1. That
the annual tax is limited to ordinary
expenses. 2. That ordinary expenses
means the current expenses of the state
government. 8. That this provision is
mandatory and does not require pro-
hibitory language excluding any other
expense. JNO. F. KELLY.