Opinion ID: 1968772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arbitrary and Capricious Classifications.

Text: The statute in question, sec. 76.28, Stats., apportions utility tax receipts in a different manner for counties having various size populations. Sub. (3) distinguishes between counties having more or less population than 50,000. This court has often upheld classification by population. In State v. Evans (1907), 130 Wis. 381, 385, 110 N. W. 241, we said: That there are distinctions between large and dense communities and small and sparser ones as separate classes is, of course, obvious. That such differences are germane and relevant to some purposes of legislation has been declared, almost without limit, by courts. A comparable conclusion has been expressed in other Wisconsin cases. Estate of Ebeling (1919), 169 Wis. 432, 437, 172 N. W. 734; Rinder v. Madison (1916), 163 Wis. 525, 532, 158 N. W. 302. A broad constitutional attack against sec. 76.28, Stats., was made in the case of State ex rel. Joint School Dist. v. Becker (1928), 194 Wis. 464, 215 N. W. 902. There, at page 469, the court concluded that there was no violation of due process since the apportionment of taxes was within the province of the legislature. See State ex rel. Superior v. Donald (1916), 163 Wis. 626, 158 N. W. 317. Municipal corporations, being creatures of the state, are not permitted to censor or supervise the activities of their creator. Accordingly, a municipality may not challenge the action of the legislature in enacting sec. 76.28, Stats. State v. Mutter (1964), 23 Wis. (2d) 407, 127 N. W. (2d) 15; In re Application of Racine (1928), 196 Wis. 604, 220 N. W. 398. Although towns are denominated quasi-municipal corporations, they are likewise political subdivisions and governmental agencies of the state. Milwaukee v. Sewerage Comm. (1954), 268 Wis. 342, 349, 67 N. W. (2d) 624. It is also well established that municipalities may not invoke privileges and immunities under the federal constitution in opposition to the will of the state. Thus, a municipality cannot complain of a denial of the equal protection of the laws or of a violation of due process within the meaning of the Fourteenth amendment when the issue pertains to the effect of a state statute upon such municipality. Williams v. Baltimore (1933), 289 U. S. 36, 53 Sup. Ct. 431, 77 L. Ed. 1015; Trenton v. New Jersey (1923), 262 U. S. 182, 43 Sup. Ct. 534, 67 L. Ed. 937. However, in the instant case we have the presence of individual intervenors who are property owners, electors, citizens, and taxpayers, and they do not suffer from the same limitations as the defendant towns. Accordingly, the question of constitutionality has been properly raised. We conclude that sec. 76.28, Stats., as amended, does not violate either the federal or the state constitutions and is not arbitrary or capricious in its classifications. By the Court. Judgment affirmed.