Case Name: Louis FONDREN et al. v. The STATE TAX COMMISSION of the State of Mississippi et al.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1977-08-31
Citations: 350 So. 2d 1329
Docket Number: No. 49459
Parties: Louis FONDREN et al. v. The STATE TAX COMMISSION of the State of Mississippi et al.
Judges: Before PATTERSON, C. J., and SUGG and WALKER, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 350
Pages: 1329–1340

Head Matter:
Louis FONDREN et al. v. The STATE TAX COMMISSION of the State of Mississippi et al.
No. 49459.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Aug. 31, 1977.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 16, 1977.
Earl L. Koskela, Louis Fondren, Jr., Pas-cagoula, for appellants.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by P. L. Douglas, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellees.
Before PATTERSON, C. J., and SUGG and WALKER, JJ.

Opinion:
WALKER, Justice,
for the Court:
Louis Fondren, together with his children Suzanne and Michael Louis, brought this action originally in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, Mississippi, seeking to enjoin the State Tax Commission from approving each county's recapitulation of its assessment rolls, on which the property tax is based, until such time as the Tax Commission should comply with its duty to equalize assessments among counties as provided by Mississippi Code Annotated sections 27-35-113 through -117 (1972) and section 112 of the Constitution of 1890. The pertinent part of section 112 of the Constitution provides:
Taxation shall be uniform and equal throughout the state. Property shall be taxed in proportion to its value. Property shall be assessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules, and in proportion to its value.
The Legislature has imposed the duty of enforcing this section on the State Tax Commission. Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-113 (1972) reads in part:
It shall be the duty of the tax commission to carefully examine the recapitulations of the assessment rolls of the coun ties, when received, to compare the assessed valuation of the various classes of property in the respective counties, to investigate and determine if the assessed valuation of any classes of property in any one or more counties of the state is not equal and uniform with the assessed values fixed upon the same classes of property in other counties of the state, and to ascertain if any class of property in any one or more counties is assessed for less than the true value of the property.
The same section goes on to give the Commission the authority to equalize assessments among the counties. The next section, Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-115 (1972), instructs the Commission to report its determinations to the various boards of supervisors. The following section, Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-117 (1972), provides a method for the boards of supervisors and for affected individuals to contest the determination of the State Tax Commission. However, the final authority for determining assessments rests with the Commission. "The decision of the state tax commission when made shall be final and it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to immediately revise and correct the assessment of the classes of property affected by the order, in accordance with the instructions of the commission." Id. The section concludes, "The revised and corrected property valuations thus made shall be the fixed and legal valuations of the property for the payment of taxes, and it shall be the duty of each and every taxpayer to pay his taxes thereon accordingly." Id. The state ad valorem tax of four mills on the dollar is based upon these county assessment rolls. Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-39-1 (Supp.1976) reads in full:
A state ad valorem tax of four (4) mills on the dollar for the year 1958 and for each year thereafter is hereby levied on all taxable property in the State of Mississippi.
Fondren's complaint alleges that the State Tax Commission has consistently failed to carry out its duty of equalization as required by the Constitution and the Code. Fondren claims, "There is wide discrepancy rather than uniformity among tax assessors in the various local districts in determining the fair market value of real property situated within the local taxing district." Fondren goes on to say:
Further, after the local tax assessor determines, estimates, or guesses the actual cash value of each piece of property within his local district, the second step is applied. This step is the percentage ratio that is applied to the actual cash value. Here again, variation, not uniformity and equality, is the prevailing practice so that some tax assessors use a percentage ratio of 10% of actual value, some use a percentage ratio of 30% of actual value and many local taxing districts use somewhere in between. Thus, the variation brought about by the lack of uniformity or rules and regulations in obtaining actual cash value of property is .further multiplies (sic) upon by the lack of any uniformity in the application of percentage ratio so that the property of the Complainants is in numerous instances taxed at one thousand percent (1,000%) or more than the property of the same value located in some of the other taxing districts in Mississippi.
These alleged variations in assessment procedures would cause the statewide levy of four mills on the dollar to fall more heavily in some counties than in others. Fondren contends that this is a violation of section 112 of the Constitution. He further contends that the State Tax Commission, over a period of many years, has neglected its statutory duty to enforce section 112 of the Constitution, and he seeks an injunction barring the Commission "from approving the recapitulations of the tax rolls until such times as they are in compliance with the statutory law of the State of Mississippi requiring them to effectively enforce the fair, uniform and equal- assessments of property as required by section 112 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890."
After a change of venue to the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, the attorney general filed a general demurrer to Fondren's bill. The court sustained the demurrer on two grounds. First, the court categorized Fondren's action as a "taxpayer's suit" and held that he was required to show that he had applied to the proper parties without redress and had invited other citizens to join the suit. The court also concluded that Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-163 (1972) provided Fondren an adequate remedy at law, thereby depriving him of his equitable remedy. We have concluded that the chancery court is in error on both of these propositions. We have further concluded that the allegations of Fondren's bill of complaint, if proved, entitle him to relief. We therefore reverse.
I.
We must first consider the question of Fondren's standing to bring this suit. The cases dealing with taxpayer's suits, on which the chancery court and the Commission rely, have nothing to do with the case before us. The Commission is under the mistaken impression that any action in which a private citizen sues his government concerning a matter of general public interest is a "taxpayer's suit." The cases which this Court has called taxpayer's suits constitute only one of the possible forms of relief available to a private citizen. There are several others as well.
First and foremost are the historic writs of mandamus and prohibition. These writs are of only limited value for a private citizen who seeks to litigate a matter of general public interest, because Mississippi Code Annotated section 11 — 41-1 (1972) provides that the writs may ordinarily be sought only by the attorney general or a district attorney. However, if a private citizen can show that he has "an interest separate from or in excess of that of the general public" relief may be available to him on his own application. Compare Wilson v. City of Laurel, 249 So.2d 801 (Miss.1971), with Thompson v. Mayfield, 204 So.2d 878 (Miss.1967).
In addition to the general statute, the Legislature has, from time to time, provided for other uses for the writ of mandamus. In several places, our statutes provide that' the holders of public bonds may obtain relief by mandamus. See, e. g., Miss. Code Ann. § 31-11-73 and 37-29-117 (1972). Other statutes have provided that certain duties of certain officials may be enforced not only by bond holders, but by "any other interested person or party." See, e. g., Miss. Code Ann. § 51-35-201 (1972). The plaintiffs in Grenada County School Board v. Provine, 224 Miss. 574, 80 So.2d 798, 81 So.2d 694 (1955), relied on just such a statute. Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 6352 (1953) provided that school officials were subject to mandamus at the instance of any "person aggrieved." In Grenada County School Board, this Court held that ordinary citizens, taxpayers, and parents were entitled to pursue this remedy provided by the Legislature, and granted them the relief they sought. It is important to note that, where the Legislature had provided this specific avenue of relief, this Court made no mention of requiring the plaintiffs to show that they had applied to the proper parties without redress. The Court did, however, note with approval that the complainants had invited other interested parties to join the suit. Id. at 581, 80 So.2d at 800. The Court did not say that their complaint would have been vulnerable to a demurrer had they made no such effort.
Such a requirement has only been imposed in the case of taxpayer's suits. The cases relied upon by the Commission are actions in equity attempting to restrain particular governmental acts where the Legislature has provided no other legal remedy. In McKee v. Hogan, 145 Miss. 747, 110 So. 775 (1926), the taxpayer sought to enjoin the trustees of the Starkville Separate School District from purchasing a particular piece of property, relying on no particular statutory authority for his suit. This Court held that "before a private citizen can resort to injunction to litigate public questions, he should show that he has applied to the proper parties without redress, and also that he has invited other citizens to join with him in the litigation." Id. at 766, 110 So. at 779-80. Likewise, in Gaudet v. Mayor & Bd. of Aldermen, 209 Miss. 113, 46 So.2d 79 (1950), the taxpayer sought to enjoin the enforcement of a contract entered into by the City of Natchez. As in McKee, he cited no statutory authority for his suit, and this Court upheld the dismissal of his bill, relying on McKee. In Trahan v. State Highway Comm'n, 169 Miss. 732, 151 So. 178 (1933), also relied on by the Commission, the taxpayers sought to enjoin the relocation of a highway. Among other things, they contended that no constitutional appropriation of funds had been made for the project. This Court denied them standing on that issue, repeating the requirements of McKee. Id. at 751-52, 151 So. at 182-83.
However, the requirements of McKee have never been applied in a case where the Legislature has granted specific authority for a citizen to come to the court. Fondren brings his suit under the specific authority of Mississippi Code Annotated section 11 — 13—11 (1972), which reads:
The chancery court shall have jurisdiction of suits by one or more taxpayers in any county, city, town, or village, to restrain the collection of any taxes levied or attempted to be collected without authority of law.
This is precisely what Fondren seeks to do. In enjoining the approval of the assessment rolls, the chancery court would be restraining the collection of the property tax, since it is only after the valuations have been revised and corrected that the duty to pay taxes arises. Miss. Code Ann. § 27-35-117 (1972).
This statute was construed by this Court in Stone v. Kerr, 194 Miss. 646, 10 So.2d 845 (1942). In that case, we denied the taxpayer access to the remedy of injunction because we concluded that he had an adequate remedy at law. Id. at 660, 10 So.2d at 848. We made no suggestion that any other factor should be taken into consideration in deciding whether to grant relief under this section. The Court did not cite McKee. The Court did not say that the taxpayer must have sought redress before the proper authorities or must have invited other taxpayers to join him. We decline to impose such requirements now. Where the Legislature has authorized a suit, we are not disposed to place further procedural barriers between the complainant and the vindication of his rights. We hold that Fondren, as a taxpayer, had standing to bring this suit.
II.
Following Stone, we must proceed to consider whether Fondren has an adequate remedy at law. The chancery court concluded that his proper remedy was found in Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-163 (1972). We conclude that this remedy is entirely inadequate.
The section cited by the chancery court provides that any person "aggrieved by an order of the state tax commission assessing property for the purpose of ad valorem taxation may . . . appeal with supersedeas as to the amount of taxes in controversy" to the appropriate circuit court. Miss. Code Ann. § 27-35-163 (1972). It is readily apparent that the purpose of such a suit is to obtain a judicial determination that a particular piece of property has been improperly assessed and to obtain a reduction in the tax. Likewise, Mississippi Code Annotated sections 27-35-93 and -119 (1972), relied upon by the Commission in its brief, provide methods by which to determine the proper assessment of a particular piece of property. It is not Fondren's contention that either the State Tax Commission or the Board of Supervisors of Jackson County has erroneously computed the value of his property. He is not seeking a new calculation of his tax. Rather, he contends that the State may not collect any taxes at all until the Tax Commission has performed its duty of equalizing assessments throughout the State. Only after that is done can Fondren determine whether he is entitled to a reduction in taxes. Only then will "the amount of taxes in controversy" become apparent. It is clear beyond doubt that the statutory remedies suggested by the Com mission were never intended as vehicles for compelling the Commission to comply with section 112 of the Constitution.
An examination of Stone, supra, gives support to this conclusion. In that case, the taxpayer contended that his business fell under a provision of the law providing for a privilege tax of one percent of the gross income of his business, while the Commission had concluded that his business was governed by another section requiring two percent. In concluding that the taxpayer had an adequate remedy at law, the Court noted that the taxpayer was only seeking "a correction of the amount of the tax so assessed." Id. at 659, 10 So.2d at 848. Unlike the case before us, "the amount of taxes in controversy" was clear beyond dispute, and the Court held that the collection of the tax could not be enjoined for "mere irregularity or errors of computation." Id. at 659, 10 So.2d at 848. Quoting from the early case of Coulson v. Harris, 43 Miss. 728, 746 (1871), the Court noted that a writ of injunction would be appropriate "to prevent a continuing trespass or injury, or other wrong." Stone, supra, 194 Miss, at 657, 10 So.2d at 847.
The gravamen of Fondren's complaint is not that the State has made a mere error in computing his taxes. He alleges "a continuing trespass or injury," in that the State Tax Commission has failed for many years to carry out its duty of equalizing assessments, which is a prerequisite to the collection of taxes at all. Stone fully supports the conclusion that such a question is not to be litigated under the statutory remedies suggested by the Commission, but is the proper subject of a suit to enjoin the collection of taxes. We conclude that Fondren is without adequate remedy at law, and that he is entitled to seek an injunction in the chancery court.
III.
Having determined that Fondren has standing to bring this suit and that he has no adequate remedy at law, we must consider whether his allegations of fact, if proved, warrant the conclusion that the Commission's actions result in the collection of taxes "without authority of law." We have no hesitation in concluding that Fon-dren's bill of complaint states a cause of action on which relief may be granted.
The mandate of section 112 of the Constitution is plain. The Commission's duty to enforce the mandate of section 112 is equally plain. Miss. Code Ann. § 27-35-113 through -117 (1972). The portions of Fon-dren's complaint quoted at the outset of this opinion clearly allege that the Commission has not performed its duty. He contends that two pieces of property, having the same market value but located in different counties, may be valued quite differently by the local assessors. Having begun with an inequality, that inequality is compounded when one county chooses to assess its property at a different percentage of its determined value than does another county. The State tax of four mills on the dollar is then collected on the basis of these disproportionate assessments. Thus, owners of parcels of land of identical value in different counties may face radically different tax liabilities. These allegations, if proved, constitute a blatant violation of section 112 of our Constitution. In essence, Fondren alleges that taxation is not uniform and equal throughout the State. He contends that property is not taxed in proportion to its value. He maintains that property is not assessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules, and in proportion to its value. Proof of his allegations would establish that the Commission had failed in its statutory duty, under Mississippi Code Annotated section 27-35-113 (1972), to equalize assessments as required by section 112. If Fondren can prove the constitutional and statutory violations he alleges, he will be entitled to relief.
The opinions of this Court have always reflected our dedication to the principles of judicial restraint. Our cases on standing, discussed earlier in this opinion, reflect our conviction that the political officers of this State ought to be free to serve the public without fear of a multiplicity of unnecessary lawsuits. In concluding that Fondren must be given the opportunity to prove his allegations, we have not departed from either of these principles. Where the chief political officers of this State, our Legislature, have granted private citizens a right of action, we deem it unnecessary to provide further protection for public officers by judicially created requirements of standing. Nor have we opened the door for judicial legislation. Fondren has not asked us to impose our own subjective notions of equal protection or due process. Rather, he asks us to enforce the specific and plain words of section 112.
In declaring that relief may be appropriate, we do not overstep the bounds of the judicial function. This Court and the State Tax Commission both draw our authority from the same source. The only source of authority in this State is the will of the people, as expressed in our Constitution. Mississippi Constitution Article II, section 5 (1890). Where the State Tax Commission or any other agency of this State has violated its constitutional duty, to the detriment of any citizen of this State, the courts of this State have the duty to grant that citizen relief. That is all that is involved in this case.
We conclude that the chancery court erred in sustaining the Commission's demurrer. The cause must be remanded for a hearing on the merits.
IV.
It is not inappropriate in a case as complex as the one before us to make certain remarks for the guidance of the chancery court on remand. We may start by noting what we have held and what we have not held in this opinion. We have held that Louis Fondren has standing to bring this suit, that he has no adequate remedy at law, and that certain allegations of fact, sufficiently discussed earlier in this opinion, would entitle him to relief if he can prove them to the satisfaction of the court. We have merely concluded that one complainant has alleged sufficient facts to entitle him to relief. This is all that is necessary to withstand the general demurrer offered by the Commission. Griffith, Mississippi Chancery Practice, section 293 (2d ed. 1950).
It has been unnecessary for us to consider, and we have not considered, other facets of Fondren's complaint. For instance, we have not considered whether his children, who are not alleged to be property owners, have standing to bring this suit. We have not considered his references to the separate assessments which municipalities are entitled to make under Mississippi Code Annotated section 21-33-9(b) (1972). These separate assessments have nothing to do with the State tax of four mills per dollar, levied on the basis of the county assessments. We have no occasion to consider here whether municipal assessments might in some way violate section 112 of the Constitution.
Finally, we must consider the relief to which Fondren may be entitled if he can prove his allegations. In his bill of complaint, he prays for an injunction barring the Commission from approving the assessment rolls, but concedes that the Commission should be allowed reasonable time to comply with the law. He suggests that the Commission should proceed immediately to adopt uniform rules of assessment throughout the State, and he concludes his bill with a prayer for general relief. Certainly, the chancery court would have the authority to enjoin the approval of the assessment rolls, which would result in the State's inability to collect its taxes. However, the chancery court may determine that less drastic measures will be sufficient to secure compliance with the Constitution. In the current posture of the case, we deem it unnecessary to comment further on possible remedies.
The cause is therefore remanded to the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PATTERSON, C. J., and SUGG, LEE and BOWLING, JJ., concur.
SMITH, and INZER, P. JJ., and ROBERTSON and BROOM, JJ., dissent.