Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/89877/metropolitan-street-ry-co-vs-tax-commissioners
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 05:09:25+00:00

Document:
Appellant Metropolitan Street Ry. Co.
Metropolitan Street Railway Company v.
Presumptively all property within the territorial limits of a state is subject to its taxing power, and the burden of proof is on one claiming that any particular property is by contract or otherwise beyond the reach thereof; and, growing out of the conditions of modern business, a large proportion of valuable property is now to be found in intangible things such as franchises, which are, like other property, subject to taxation.
In grants from the public, nothing passes by implication, and, in the absence of direct stipulations relinquishing the right of taxation, a provision, in grants of privileges or franchises, that the grantee shall pay something therefor is not to be construed as an equivalent or substitute for taxes amounting to a contract of exemption from future taxation within the impairment clause of the federal Constitution.
The omission of the legislature for one year, or for a series of years, to tax certain classes of property, otherwise taxable, does not destroy the power of the state to subject them to taxation when it sees fit to do so.
general law does not entitle every franchise owner to a similar reduction and render the tax invalid because it denies the holders of some franchises the equal protection of the law or derives them of their property without due process of law.
The difference between surface street railroads and subsurface street railroads is sufficient to justify classification in the mode and extent of taxation, and a tax otherwise legal on surface street railroad franchises does not deprive the owners thereof of the equal protection of the laws because subsurface street railroad franchises are not subjected to a similar tax. The tax law of New York as amended May 26, 1899, c. 712, p. 1589, imposing taxes on certain public franchises is not repugnant, so far as the franchises in this case are involved, to the equal protection, due process, or impairment of obligation clauses of the federal Constitution and of the Fourteenth Amendment thereto.
"Section 1. Subdivision three of section two of the tax law is hereby amended to read as follows:"
or any property, substance, or product capable of transportation or conveyance therein or that is protected thereby, including the value of all franchises, rights, authority, or permission to construct, maintain, or operate, in, under, above, upon, or through any streets, highways, or public places, any mains, pipes, tanks, conduits, or wires, with their appurtenances, for conducting, water, steam, heat, light, power, gas, oil, or other, substance, or electricity for telegraphic, telephonic, or other purposes; all trees and underwood growing upon land, and all mines, minerals, quarries, and fossils in and under the same, except mines belonging to the state. A franchise, right, authority, or permission specified in this subdivision shall, for the purpose of taxation, be known as a 'special franchise.' A special franchise shall be deemed to include the value of the tangible property of a person, copartnership, association, or corporation situated in, upon, under, or above any street, highway, public place, or public waters in connection with the special franchise. The tangible property so included shall be taxed as a part of the special franchise. No property of a municipal corporation shall be subject to a special franchise tax. "
the exclusive use of such city, town, or village, except money paid or expended for paving or repairing of pavement of any street, highway, or public place shall be deducted from any tax based on the assessment made by the state board of tax commissioners for city, town, or village purposes, but not otherwise, and the remainder shall be the tax on such special franchise payable for city, town, or village purposes. The chamberlain or treasurer of a city, the treasurer of a village, the supervisor of a town, or other officer to whom any sum is paid for which a person, copartnership, association, or corporation is entitled to credit as provided in this section, shall, not less than five nor more than twenty days before a tax on a special franchise is payable, make and deliver to the collector or receiver of taxes or other officer authorized to receive taxes for such city, town, or village, his certificate showing the several amounts which have been paid during the year ending on the day of the date of the certificate. On the receipt of such certificate, the collector, receiver, or other officer shall immediately credit on the tax roll to the person, copartnership, association, or corporation affected the amount stated in such certificate, on any tax levied against any person, copartnership, association, or corporation on an assessment of a special franchise for city, town, or village purposes only, but no credit shall be given on account of such payment or certificate in any other year, nor for a greater sum than the amount of the special franchise tax for city, town, or village purposes, for the current year, and he shall collect and receive the balance, if any, of such tax, as required by law."
"I. Error in declining to hold that the Act of the Legislature of the State of New York, approved May 26th, 1899 (c. 712, Laws 1899), entitled 'An Act to Amend the Tax Law in Relation to the Taxation of Public Franchises as Real Property,' insofar as it authorizes the assessment imposed by the state board of tax commissioners on March 20, 1900, upon the franchises of the [plaintiff in error] relator above named, deprives said relator of its property without due process of law, in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States."
"II. Error in declining to hold that said legislative enactment, insofar as it authorizes the said assessment denies to said relator the equal protection of the laws, in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States."
"III. Error in declining to hold that said legislative enactment, insofar as it authorizes the said assessment, impairs the obligations of contracts, in contravention of Section 10, Article I, of the Constitution of the United States."
"The legislature shall not pass a private or local bill in any of the following cases: . . ."
"Granting to any corporation, association, or individual the right to lay down railroad tracks. . . ."
of a street railroad except upon the condition that the consent of the owners of one-half in value of the property bounded on, and the consent also of the local authorities having the control of, that portion of a street or highway upon which it is proposed to construct or operate such railroad, be first obtained, or, in case the consent of such property owners cannot be obtained, the general term of the supreme court, in the district in which it is proposed to be constructed, may, upon application, appoint three commissioners, who shall determine, after a hearing of all parties interested, whether such railroad ought to be constructed or operated, and their determination, confirmed by the court, may be taken in lieu of the consent of the property owners."
"SEC. 7. The local authorities of any incorporated city or village to whom application, under the provisions of this act, may be made for consent to the construction, maintenance, use, operation, or extension of a street surface railroad upon any street, road, avenue, or highway, may at their option, provide for the sale of and sell at public auction the franchise, subject to all the provisions of this act, to so construct, maintain, use, operate, or extend such street surface railway. . . ."
said five years make a like annual payment into the treasury of said respective cities for the credit of said sinking funds, of five percent instead of three percent of said gross receipts; provided, however, that every corporation now existing and operating a street-surface railroad which shall extend its tracks or construct branches therefrom, and operate such extensions or branches under the provisions of this act, or the corporation operating such branches or extensions, shall pay such percentages as aforesaid only upon such portions of its gross receipts as shall bear the same proportion to the whole value thereof as the length of such extension and branches shall bear to the entire length of its tracks. . . ."
"SEC. 4. . . . The consent of the local authorities shall, in all cases, be applied for in writing, and when granted shall be upon the express condition that the provisions of this act pertinent thereto shall be complied with, and shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which said railroad is located."
plan or plans, and on the route or routes, fixed for its construction, within the time or times hereinafter designated and prescribed therefor; but this agreement shall not release any such road from the percentages required to be paid by chapter two hundred fifty-two of the Laws of eighteen hundred eighty-four. The legislature expressly reserves the right to regulate and reduce the rate of fare on such railroad or railway."
"And in the event of the failure or refusal of the party or corporation operating or using the railroad to be constructed as aforesaid, to pay the rental or percentage of gross earnings agreed upon, then, upon notice to the said party or corporation -- of not less than sixty days -- the said consent and right to operate such railroad may be declared forfeited, and the same may be resold to the highest bidder in the manner above provided."
"the said persons, or their assigns, shall pay to the sinking fund commissioners of the City of New York the sum of $1,000 per annum, to be applied by them in the same manner as moneys received on account of rentals and leases;"
"make compensation to the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of said City of New York for the value of the rights and privileges herein granted or authorized,"
be paid to the commissioners of the sinking fund of said city, by the said company, within thirty days after the same becomes payable, according to the decision aforesaid, and applied to the reduction of the debt of said city;"
"the said persons, or their assigns, shall annually, on the first day of November, pay into the treasury of the City of New York one percent of the gross receipts of the road herein provided for, the amount of which gross receipts shall be determined by the sworn statement of the president and treasurer of said railway, but subject to the inspection of its books by the comptroller of the City of New York."
Subsequent to the law of 1884 above referred to, fifteen other franchises now belonging to the relator were granted by the common council of the City of New York. Most of them provided for annual payment to the City of New York of either a fixed amount or a fixed percentage, varying from two to eight percent of the gross earnings.
"That the taxing power is of vital importance, that it is essential to the existence of government, are truths which it cannot be necessary to reaffirm. They are acknowledged and asserted by all. It would seem that the relinquishment of such a power is never to be assumed. We will not say that a state may not relinquish it, that a consideration sufficiently valuable to induce a partial release of it may not exist; but, as the whole community is interested in retaining it undiminished, that community has a right to insist that its abandonment ought not to be presumed in a case in which the deliberate purpose of the state to abandon it does not appear."
"The payment of taxes on account of property otherwise liable to taxation can only be avoided by clear proof of a valid contract of exemption from such payment, and the validity of such contract presupposes a good consideration therefor. If the property be in its nature taxable, the contract exempting it from taxation must, as we have said, be clearly proved. It will not be inferred from facts which do not lead irresistibly and necessarily to the existence of the contract. The facts proved must show either a contract expressed in terms or else it must be implied from facts which leave no room for doubt that such was the intention of the parties, and that a valid consideration existed for the contract. If there be any doubt on these matters, the contract has not been proven, and the exemption does not exist."
under legislative authority, the exemption must be plainly and unmistakably granted; it cannot exist by implication only; a doubt is fatal to the claim."
See also Erie Ry. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 21 Wall. 492; Wilmington & Weldon R. Co. v. Alsbrook, 146 U. S. 279 ; Ford v. Delta & Pine Land Co., 164 U. S. 662 .
"The inquiry, then, is does the charter contain such a contract on the part of the state? Is there any such stipulation to be found in that instrument? It must be admitted on all hands that there is none -- no words that even relate to another bridge, or to the diminution of their tolls, or to the line of travel. If a contract on that subject can be gathered from the charter, it must be by implication, and cannot be found in the words used. Can such an agreement be implied? The rule of construction before stated is an answer to the question. In charters of this description, no rights are taken from the public or given to the corporation beyond those which the words of the charter, by their natural and proper construction, purport to convey. There are no words which import such a contract as the plaintiffs in error contend for, and none can be implied."
of privileges and a payment therefor. Other words must be written into the contract before there can be found any relinquishment of the power of taxation.
"The franchises are grants which usually contain contracts, executed by the municipality, but executory as to the owner. They contain various conditions and stipulations to be observed by the holders of the privilege, such as payment of a license fee, of a gross sum down, of a specific sum each year, or a certain percentage of receipts, as a consideration, or 'in full satisfaction for the use of the streets.' There is no provision that the special franchise, or the property created by the grant, shall be exempt from taxation. . . ."
only upon value, toward the support of government."
"In the complex civilization of today, a large portion of the wealth of a community consists in intangible property, and there is nothing in the nature of things or in the limitations of the federal Constitution which restrains a state from taxing at its real value such intangible property. . . . It matters not in what this intangible property consists -- whether privileges, corporate franchises, contracts, or obligations. It is enough that it is property which, though intangible, exists, which has value, produces income, and passes current in the markets of the world. To ignore this intangible property, or to hold that it is not subject to taxation at its accepted value, is to eliminate from the reach of the taxing power a large portion of the wealth of the country. "
"That the franchise, capital stock, business, and profits of all corporations are liable to taxation in the place where they do business, and by the state which creates them, admits of no dispute at this day. 'Nothing can be more certain in legal decisions,' says this Court in Society for Savings v. Coite, 6 Wall. 607,"
" State Freight Tax Case, 15 Wall. 232; State Tax on Gross Receipts, 15 Wall. 284."
"Such a contract is a limitation upon the taxing power of the legislature making it, and upon succeeding legislatures, to impose any further tax upon the franchise. But why, when bought, as it becomes property, may it not be taxed as land is taxed which has been bought from the state? was repeatedly asked in the course of the argument. The reason is that everyone buys land, subject, in his own apprehension, to the great law of necessity, that we must contribute from it and all of our property something to maintain the state. But a franchise for banking, when bought, the price is paid for the use of the privilege whilst it lasts, and any tax upon it would substantially be an addition to the price."
this act, the faith of the state is hereby pledged not to impose any further tax or burden upon them during the continuance of their charters under this act."
People v. Commissioners, 4 Wall. 244, 71 U. S. 259 ; Jefferson Branch Bank v. Skelly, 1 Black 436, 66 U. S. 446 ; Farrington v. Tennessee, 95 U. S. 679 , 95 U. S. 690 , 95 U. S. 694 ; Stone v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 116 U. S. 307 , 116 U. S. 328 . The case at bar cannot be distinguished from that of Memphis Gaslight Co. v. Shelby County, in which this Court upheld a license tax upon a corporation which had acquired by its charter the privilege of erecting gas works and making and selling gas for fifty years, and, speaking by Mr. Justice Miller, said:"
"The argument of counsel is that, if no express contract against taxation can be found here it must be implied, because to permit the state to tax this company by a license tax for the privilege granted by its charter is to destroy that privilege. But the answer is that the company took their charter subject to the same right of taxation in the state that applies to all other privileges and to all other property. If they wished or intended to have an exemption of any kind from taxation, or felt that it was necessary to the profitable working of their business, they should have required a provision to that effect in their charter. The Constitution of the United States does not profess in all cases to protect property from unjust and oppressive taxation by the states. That is left to the state constitutions and state laws."
109 U. S. 109 U.S. 398, 109 U. S. 400 .
the inhabitants of Charleston, or those holding taxable property within the same."
Chicago v. Sheldon, 9 Wall. 50, is also not in point. An ordinance was passed by the City Council of Chicago prescribing the amount of work which a street railway company must do in the grading, paving, etc., of the streets on which its railway was authorized to be constructed. The company having accepted and complied with the terms of this ordinance, the city attempted by assessments for special improvements to compel the railway company to pay for further work of the nature required by the original ordinance, and it was held that the obligations assumed by the railway company in respect to street improvements, as provided by the ordinance, could not be increased by special assessments for further improvements. But this involved no question of liability to general taxation, and only held void the effort of the city, under the guise of special assessments, to increase the obligations specifically assumed by the railway company under the original ordinance.
In New Jersey v. Yard, 95 U. S. 104 , there was a contract that a certain tax should "be in lieu and satisfaction of all other taxation or imposition whatsoever, by or under the authority of this state, or any law thereof," and the decision simply upheld that exemption specifically contracted for.
corporation, which payment was in the nature of a tax, all amounts so paid for the exclusive use of such city, town, or village, except money paid or expended for paving or repairing of pavement of any street, highway, or public place, shall be deducted from any tax based on the assessment made by the state board of tax commissioners for city, town, or village purposes, but not otherwise, and the remainder shall be the tax on such special franchise payable for city, town, or village purposes;"
"In the first place, both in statutes and in judicial decisions, the term 'tax' is frequently used in a much more comprehensive sense than that which we have stated to be its accurate meaning. It is not used so broadly as to include the revenue from private property which the state or one of its political divisions may hold for emolument, the same as other owners; but it certainly is used to comprehend exactions for the privilege of exercising franchise rights, which latter are often, especially in the case of foreign corporations, merely the consideration received for privileges which the state is at liberty to grant or to withhold at pleasure."
not destroy the power of the state. The language quoted from section 46 indicates the desire of the legislature to deal equitably with the corporations holding these franchises. Surely the manifestation of this desire cannot be construed into a repudiation of power. These annual charges are not called taxes, but are spoken of as in the nature of a tax, and the legislature, recognizing the equitable force of the claim based thereon, provided that the corporation be given credit for sums thus payable. In this connection, it is well to recall that, in section 1 of the act of 1886, supra, these annual charges are called "rental or percentage of gross earnings."
"The statute in question was enacted at a special session of the legislature convened by the governor for that purpose. In his message to the legislature, he recommended that"
"it should be provided that from the sum assessed by the state authorities as the tax which a corporation must pay because of its local franchise there shall be deducted the amount already annually paid by it to the locality for such franchise. In no other way is it possible to tax these corporations with uniformity and equity."
it is plain that this view was accepted by the legislature, for under the scheme provided by the present statute, the franchise is to be assessed as real estate -- that is to say, not subject to diminution for charges thereon, and the allowance for such charges is made only by deducting them from the tax.
"namely: (1) in that it adds to the obligations of their various contracts while preserving all the burdens of those contracts; (2) in that it provides for the deduction of annual payments covered by existing contracts from the amount of tax levied, by reason of which deduction those who agreed to pay for their franchises lump sums or annual amounts less than the new tax are discriminated against, and (3) in that it discriminates against them and subjects them to taxation while their competitors, operating under the surfaces of many of the same streets, are to be exempted."
The first specification is answered by the conclusion that we have reached in respect to the claim of an impairment of contract obligations, for if there was no such impairment, the fact that the companies have escaped the burden for these many years is their good fortune, and in no manner discharges them from the ordinary burdens of taxation which the present law imposes.
a tax," is a matter of grace on the part of the legislature. The franchises granted were, as we have held, subject to taxation, and the fact that, upon equitable considerations, the state has consented that a certain reduction shall, in some cases, be made does not entitle every holder of a franchise to a like reduction. It is akin to an exemption, and there is nothing in the federal Constitution to prevent a state from granting exemptions from taxation. Bell's Gap Railroad Company v. Pennsylvania, 134 U. S. 232 .
With regard to the third contention, it may be said that there is a difference between surface and subsurface street railroads sufficient to justify a diversity in the mode and extent of taxation. In Savannah &c.; Railway Company v. Savannah, 198 U. S. 392 , just decided, taxation of a street railroad was challenged on the ground that a steam railroad which ran into the city and along its streets, and there did some of the same kind of work as the ordinary street railroad, was not subject to the same tax, and referring to this contention is this declaration by MR. JUSTICE HOLMES: "The difference between the two railroads is obvious, and warrants the diversity in the mode of taxation." Further, the condition of the title to the only subsurface road in the City of New York clearly puts it in a class by itself.

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