Opinion ID: 2115174
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Uniformity Provisions of Sec. 1, Art. VIII, Wisconsin Constitution.

Text: We find no merit in the contention that because 26 counties are mandatorily subject to the pension system the legislature appropriates county funds (state aids and taxes which otherwise would be allocated and paid to the county) for the payment of county obligations, thus creating a special method of collecting and returning taxes in contravention of sec. 1, art. VIII of the Wisconsin constitution. [5a] In the plaintiffs' reasoning, the state cannot appropriate until it gives or transfers unconditionally such funds to the county and, therefore, the procedure implies the allocated state aids or taxes are county funds which are applied to the county's obligation. The state, however, has complete control of its funds and can prescribe conditions upon which they are allocated to the county. The apportionment of state aids or taxes to various counties is subject to the plenary power of the legislature over municipal and quasi-municipal corporations to require such moneys to be used for certain purposes absolutely or under certain conditions. There are many instances where the legislature imposes new duties involving financial obligations upon counties without providing any appropriation therefor. This is done on the theory the county is a political subdivision or agency of the state. The procedure by which the state transfers state funds designated as state aids or taxes to the defendants to pay the contributions of a defaulting county does not create a special method of collecting or returning county taxes. The state aids and taxes allocated to a county are not collected or returned by the county by any method or in any sense contemplated by sec. 1, art. VIII. The plaintiff has overlooked the fact in his argument that the procedure under the pension system deals with the distribution of state aids and taxes and not with the assessment or collection of direct taxes on real estate only to which the uniformity requirement applies. State ex rel. Van Dyke v. Cary (1923), 181 Wis. 564, 191 N. W. 546; Chicago & N. W. R. Co. v. State (1906), 128 Wis. 553, 108 N. W. 557; Nunnemacher v. State (1906), 129 Wis. 190, 108 N. W. 627. Nor can we agree with the assumption implicit in the plaintiffs' argument the withholding by the state of aids and taxes to pay a county's obligation created by statute is collecting from or assessing a tax on the county.