Court Opinion

ID: 9791037
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:04:08.471603+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:33.577210
License: Public Domain

SCHAUER, J.
I concur in the judgment and agree that the property is properly assessed to the conditional vendee, petitioner Eisley, and that the proceeding in mandamus .is a proper vehicle for testing the claims here asserted.
It is my view, however, that whether or not the county assessor be regarded as a state officer the provisions of section 15 of article XIII of the California Constitution that “No injunction or writ of mandate or other legal or equitable process shall ever issue in any suit, action or proceeding in any court against this State, or any officer thereof, to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax levied under the provisions of this article; but after payment thereof action may be maintained to recover, with interest, in such manner as may be provided by law, any tax claimed to have been illegally collected, ’ ’ do not prohibit the issuance of mandamus here. It should be noted that in sections 1 through 10%, article XIII of the Constitution does provide for the levying of the tax involved.
Power to issue writs of mandamus is expressly confirmed in the courts of California by the state Constitution (Const., art. VI, §§ 4, 4b, 5), and statutory or other constitutional provisions which purport to deprive courts (or limit, them in the exercise) of jurisdictional powers expressly confirmed in them by the Constitution are not to be extended by implication. The Legislature may not, ordinarily, even curtail constitutional jurisdiction or judicial powers. (Miller & Lux v. Board of Supervisors (1922), 189 Cal. 254, 274 [208 P. 304]; In re Sutter-Butte By-Pass Assessment (1923), 190 Cal. 532, 536 [213 P. 974]; Gallagher v. Campodonico (1931), 121 Cal.App.Supp. 765, 774 [5 P.2d 486]; 35 C.J.S, 778-779.) *648And special-subject constitutional provisions which do limit general jurisdiction elsewhere in the Constitution expressly confirmed, or which purport to curtail inherent judicial powers, should not be construed to extend the special limitation beyond the clear import of the language used.
A similar federal statute (26 U.S.C.A. § 3653 (a), formerly R.S. 3224) provides that'“no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court.” It will be noted that the quoted statute is in a degree broader than our constitutional limitation in that it is made expressly applicable to the “assessment” as well as to the “collection” of “any tax.” It will also be remembered that generally speaking, federal statutes have force and effect on the jurisdiction of federal courts, other than the Supreme Court, equal to the force and effect of state constitutional provisions on the jurisdiction of state courts. As set forth in 35 Corpus Juris Secundum, page 777, et seq., “All federal courts, other than the supreme court, derive their jurisdiction wholly from the authority of congress; and, apart from such incidental powers as necessarily inhere in a lawfully created court, they have such jurisdiction only as, within constitutional limits, is conferred on them by acts of congress, either acts creating them or subsequent acts.
“Congress has power to prescribe and define the jurisdiction of inferior courts of the United States; and it may, in its discretion, give, grant, withhold, control, regulate, enlarge, limit, restrict, curtail, withdraw, or take away, the jurisdiction of such courts, even with respect to pending suits, provided it does not extend jurisdiction beyond constitutional limits, and provided, also, according to some authorities, it does not take away or abridge the inherent rights of ordained and established courts or limit judicial power, as distinguished from jurisdiction.”
In respect to the operation of the limiting federal statute above quoted, American Law Reports (vol. 108, p. 201) declares the rule to be as follows: “The Federal statute [quoted hereinabove] . . . does not prohibit a suit in equity to restrain the collection of a tax where the tax is illegally exacted and where the taxpayer has no adequate remedy at law for its recovery if it is paid by him; and such remedy must be not only adequate, but also clear and unquestioned. [Citations.]
“The statute, being merely declaratory of the prior rule in equity, is not absolute; and it is inapplicable in extraor*649dinary and exceptional circumstances. The absence of a plain, adequate, and complete remedy at law, to pay the illegal tax and sue to recover it, raises an independent ground to support injunctive relief in equity. Such ancient equitable jurisdiction was not abrogated by the statute, which is construed in harmony with the former equitable doctrine. [Citations.] . . .
“ [P. 205] The general rule in equity, irrespective of statute, is that where, in addition to the illegality of an exaction in the guise of a tax, there exist special and extraordinary circumstances sufficient to bring the case within some acknowledged head of equity jurisprudence, an injunction suit may be maintained. Where such circumstances exist, statutory provisions are rendered inapplicable unless specific language discloses beyond a doubt the purpose to abrogate the salutary and well-established rule of equity.”
It seems important in appraising the reasoning which underlies the cases construing jurisdictional or procedural limitation statutes as being merely declaratory of the prior rule in equity to emphasize that such “prior rule in equity” is given effect so scrupulously that the rule itself often affords more protection to the State than could the statute. Under the equity rule, mere illegality of an assessment does not constitute a ground for the intervention of equity. (See 108 A.L.R. 186, 203-204, and cases there cited.) An unconstitutional tax will not be restrained unless other ground for equity intervention exists. (See Bailey v. George (1922), 259 U.S. 16 [42 S.Ct. 419, 66 L.Ed. 816]; and eases collected at p. 192 of 108 A.L.R.) Even where the statute specifically recognizes a right to injunction when the tax sought to be enjoined is illegal, courts of equity will deny relief except in clear cases showing unmistakably that equitable grounds exist. (See 108 A.L.R. 201.) But where adequate grounds exist then the rule has been stated as follows: “If it be true, as contended by the defendant, that a tax may be collected, although it has been judicially determined to be illegal, the result will be that the taxing authorities are entirely above and beyond the law . . . [W]here there is no adequate remedy at law, the court should have power to grant relief; otherwise, the citizen will be more at the mercy of the departments of the national government than is consistent with life in a free country.” (Higgins Mfg. Co. v. Page (1927; D. C.), 20 F.2d 948, 949.)
*650In Miller v. Standard Nut Margarine Co. (1931), 284 U.S. 498, 509-510 [52 S.Ct. 260, 76 L.Ed. 422], the United States Supreme Court stated its position on the matter in the following words: “Independently of, and in cases arising prior to, the enactment of the provision (Act of March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 475) which became R.S., § 3224, this court in harmony with the rule generally followed in courts of equity held that a suit will not lie to restrain the collection of a tax upon the sole ground of its illegality. The principal reason is that, as courts are without authority to apportion or equalize taxes or make assessments, such suits would enable those liable for taxes in some amount to delay payment or possibly to escape their lawful burden and so to interfere with and thwart the collection of revenues for the support of the government. And this court likewise recognizes the rule that, in cases where complainant shows that in addition to the illegality of an exaction in the guise of a tax there exist special and extraordinary circumstances .sufficient to bring the case within some acknowledged head of equity jurisprudence, a suit may b'e maintained to enjoin the collector. [Citations.] Section 3224 is declaratory of the principle first mentioned and is to be construed as near as may be in harmony with it and the reasons upon which it rests. [Citations.] The section does not. refer specifically to the rule applicable to cases involving exceptional circumstances. The general words employed are not sufficient, and it would require specific language undoubtedly disclosing that purpose, to warrant the inference that Congress intended to abrogate that salutary and well established rule. This court has given effect to § 3224 in a number of cases. [Citations.] It has never held the rule to be absolute, but has repeatedly indicated that extraordinary and 'exceptional circumstances render its provisions inap-' plicable. [Citations.]” (See, also, Hill v. Wallace (1921), 259 U.S. 44, 62 [42 S.Ct. 453, 66 L.Ed. 822].)
■ Again, in the annotation in 84 American Law Reports, at page 1315, in reference to injunction being ordinarily anappropriate remedy, at least in the absence of a controlling statute, it is declared that "The rule has been stated without qualification in many cases, that injunction is a proper remedy' against a tax on property which is by law exempt from taxation,” citing Osborn v. Bank of United States (1824), 9 Wheat. 738 [6 L.Ed. 204]; Tomlinson v. Branch (1872), 15 Wall. 460 [21 L.Ed. 189]; Allen v. Baltimore & O. R. Co. (1884), 114 *651U.S. 311 [5 S.Ct. 925, 962, 29 L.Ed. 200]; United States v. Rickert (1903), 188 U.S. 432 [23 S.Ct. 478, 47 L.Ed. 532]; Bailey v. Atlantic & P. R. Co. (1874; C.C.), 3 Dill. 22, Fed. Cas. No. 732; and state court cases from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The note continues (p. 1316), “There are numerous cases in which injunction has been sought to restrain the collection of taxes on property alleged to be exempt from taxation, which have been disposed of on the ground that the property was or ivas not exempt, or on some other ground, without adverting to the question of whether injunction was the proper remedy. No attempt has been made to collect such eases in this annotation, although they have a slight weight as inferential authority for the proposition that injunction is a proper remedy.” Many California cases fall in this latter category.
In Pomeroy’s Equity Jurisprudence (5th ed., vol. 1, pp. 529-534) it is said, “In a large number of the states the rule has been .settled in well-considered and often-repeated adjudications by courts of the highest character fqr ability and learning, that a suit in equity will be sustained when brought by any number of taxpayers joined as co-plaintiffs, or by one or more plaintiffs suing on behalf of all taxpayers similarly situated, or sometimes even by a single taxpayer suing on his own account, to enjoin the enforcement and collection, and to set aside and annul, any and every kind of tax or assessment laid by governmental authorities, either for general or special purposes, whether it be entirely personal in its nature and liability, or whether it be made a lien on the property of each taxpayer, whenever such tax is illegal. ... In the face of every sort of objection urged against a judicial, interference with the governmental and executive function of taxation, these courts have uniformly held that the legal remedy of the individual taxpayer against an illegal tax, either by action for damages, or perhaps by certiorari, was wholly inadequate; and that to restrict him to such imperfect remedy would, in most instances, be a substantial denial of justice, which conclusion is, in my opinion, unquestionably true. The courts have therefore sustained these equitable suits, and have granted the relief, and have uniformly placed their decision upon the inherent jurisdiction of equity to interfere for the prevention of a multiplicity of suits. The result has demon*652strated the fact that complete and final relief may he given to an entire community by means of one judicial decree, which would otherwise require an indefinite amount of separate litigation by individuals even if it were attainable by any means.” It is also to be noted that Mr. Pomeroy (at p. 675) declares that “if recognized equitable grounds for exercising jurisdiction appear, the federal courts, in the exercise of their equity jurisdiction, are not bound by state statutes which forbid the issuance of injunctions to prevent the collection of taxes.” To the same effect, see note, 108 American Law Reports, page 218.
It is in the light of the above noted general rules that we should examine the exact language of our constitutional provision. Immediately it becomes apparent that our limitation, in that it relates solely to collection of a levied tax, is not so broad as the federal statute, and, given full effect but not extension, admits of such control of the assessment procedures as is necessary for the entertainment and disposition of the subject ease. It reads: “No injunction or writ of mandate or other legal or equitable process shall ever issue in any suit, action or proceeding in any court against this State, or any officer thereof, to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax levied under the provisions of this article; but after payment thereof action may be maintained to recover, with interest, in such manner, as may be provided by law, any tax claimed to have been illegally collected.” (Italics added.) It seems not insignificant that the special circumscription of powers is limited to process “to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax levied, ’ ’ etc. In other words, this court possesses general jurisdiction to issue mandate; that jurisdiction endures in relation to this and similar cases except as it, or judicial power in the exercise thereof, may be specifically limited by the language above quoted. The limitation at most is.only on its jurisdiction or power to issue its process “to prevent, or enjoin the collection of any tax levied.” In Briscoe v. McMillan (1907), 117 Tenn. 115 [100 S.W. 111], the Supreme Court of Tennessee dealt with a similar problem. It said (p. 114 of 100 S.W.),
“The first question we shall notice, arising on the demurrer, goes to the jurisdiction of the court. It is insisted on behalf of the defendants that the present bill is in effect a suit against the state, and is in contravention of section 1064 et seq. of Shannon’s Code, embodying the act of 1873, to the effect that no preventive writ of any kind shall be granted by any *653court to prohibit, or to hinder or delay, the collection of any revenue claimed by the state; but, if the taxpayer considers the tax ‘unjust or illegal or against any statute or clause of the Constitution, ’ he must pay the same under protest and may then within 30 days sue the collecting officer to recover it back.
‘ ‘ Section 1063 further provides that there shall be no other remedy ‘in any case of the collection of revenue or attempt to collect revenue illegally. ’
“We are of opinion the sections of the Code invoked herein are inapplicable in the present ease. The statute in question by its express provisions only applies to the collection of taxes. There is no effort here to prevent the collection of taxes, but the object of the bill is to enjoin the state board of equalization against the alleged illegal exercise of its jurisdiction in the assessment of said county and municipal taxes.”
In California that there is substantial distinction between the assessment process and the collection procedures has heretofore seemed obvious; indeed, traditionally in this state the offices and functions of assessor and tax collector have been separate. (Pol. Code. §§4013, 4017, 4125, 4126.)
The purpose of the litigation in this ease is to “compel the county assessor to assess to Eisley his possessory interest in real property purchased by him from the Veterans Welfare Board.” (Italics added.) Even if this court does not see fit to follow the federal rule of construction, hereinbefore set forth, nevertheless this proceeding can be maintained and its pendency not interfere with the collection of any tax already assessed and levied. To make the collection, when a tax has been assessed and levied, various steps are provided to be taken by the taxing authorities. (See generally, Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 2501-3112.) I perceive in section 15 of the Constitution no divestiture of jurisdiction or abrogation of judicial power of the courts of this state to entertain mandamus looking toward requiring any taxing officer or body, in making an assessment, to comply with the law, or, in case of an illegal assessment, to comply with the mandatory provisions of applicable statutes. (See Rev. & Tax. Code, pt. 9, div. 1.) If a taxing authority should arbitrarily refuse to perform its duty—to levy any taxes whatsoever—would not mandamus be the appropriate remedy to compel the performance of official duty? And would not such official duty consist in assessing a tax in accordance with law ? Is not the performance of that duty exactly what the petitioner here assertedly de*654mands ? If the court has power to compel the performance of official duty does it not necessarily have the power to determine, within limits, the acts which would constitute “official duty”?
In McClelland v. Board of Supervisors (May, 1947), 30 Cal.2d 124,129-130 [180 P.2d 676], we held that “Where, as here, it is substantially contended that fraud or ‘ something equivalent to fraud’ results from arbitrary action of the board in declining to equalize the assessed valuations of property, the proceedings before the board are subject to review.” See also eases there cited. Certiorari to annul the action of a board of equalization in respect to determining values for assessment purposes certainly comes,as close to “process ... to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax levied under the provisions of” ¡article XIII as does mandamus to compel assessment of property to a certain person or to compel allowance of a constitutional exemption in making an assessment. But again, technically, the process is not issued to “prevent or enjoin the collection” of a levied tax. Any levied tax may be collected, during the pendency of the mandamus or certiorari proceeding or at any time as the law may provide (in the McClelland case it appeared that the tax was paid during the pendency of the proceedings), but in the meantime the taxpayer is pursuing the extraordinary remedy which may be the only substantially adequate and convenient remedy available to him. It may be the only means by which the pertinent statutory provisions can be practically enforced. The prompt determination of correct assessment procedure may well be even more important to the state than to the suing taxpayers themselves. I therefore would hold this proceeding to be without the scope of section 15 of article XIII whether or not the assessor be regarded as a state officer.
I think the orderly processes of government and the expeditious and economical assessment and resulting collection of taxes are more likely to be thwarted than served by any broader application of the section, and that this court should take such a position and make it known for the guidance of other taxing authorities and taxpayers. It seems sounder procedure to me, and better constitutional law, to follow the general rule of the federal (and many other) jurisdictions, as we tacitly have, been doing, or at least to hold the limitation to the scope of its own language, to give it effect to the extent of the clear import of its language but no further, and to maintain the extraordinary remedies as available, when otherwise *655proper, for the prompt determination of assessment problems. We can do this, as above suggested, in respect to assessment procedure, without issuing the process “to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax levied under the provisions of” article XIII, and by so doing we can expeditiously require assessing authorities and other state as well as county officers to perform their official duties in accord with law. The fact that a decision we may render in respect to assessment procedure may cause a tax to be levied different from that threatened or may ultimately form the basis for repayment of a tax paid does not bring us into conflict with the limitation against enjoining or preventing the collection of a levied tax. Even though mandamus may ultimately cause the cancellation of an illegal assessment it need not prevent or enjoin any collection process in respect to a tax levied as a result of the illegal assessment. If mandamus is eventually denied the assessment stands and, the collection of the tax not having been prevented, obviously the constitutional limitation has not been breached. If mandamus is finally granted, a legal assessment made and the illegal assessment cancelled, then payments made pursuant to the illegal assessment may be refunded in accordance with applicable law. (See Rev. & Tax. Code, div. 1, pt. 9, ch. 5, art. 1.)
It is important to note that the Revenue and Taxation Code, as above indicated, expressly provides for situations in which it becomes the duty of public officers to cancel an uncollected tax. Section 4986 declares that “All or any portion of any uncollected tax, penalty, or costs, heretofore or hereafter levied, may, on satisfactory proof, be cancelled by the auditor on order of the board of supervisors with the written consent of the district attorney if it was levied or charged . . . (b) Erroneously or illegally.” Section 4986.4 provides for the cancellation of taxes “Whenever any property has been deeded to the Veterans’ Welfare Board pursuant to Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code.” Section 4991, in mandatory language, ordains that "If the tax collector erroneously sells or deeds to the State property for the taxes which were a lien on the property for any year and the taxes for that year have been paid or were not legally a lien on the property, the auditor and the tax collector shall certify the facts to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors shall then order: (a) The county recorder to cancel the erroneous certificate or deed, (b) The auditor to cancel the sale and enter the fact and date of the cancellation on the margin of the *656delinquent roll opposite the description of the property. ’ ’ We should also observe that section 4990 mandatorily provides for cancellation in the event of dual assessment: “On discovery that any property is assessed by the same taxing agency more than once for the same year, after payment of all charges justly due on the property the person having custody of the rolls shall certify the facts to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors shall then order the auditor to cancel the other charges and assessments by an entry on the margin of the roll and, if carried there, the delinquent and current roll.”
Availability of the extraordinary writs may well prevent a multiplicity of suits and furnish a prompt and solely adequate remedy. A man who did not possess the money to pay a tax and thereby qualify to sue for its refund, could let his property be sold to the state pursuant to the collection process, but, by prevailing in mandamus to compel the assessor or auditor or supervisors to perform official duty, could establish the basis for cancellation of the sale under the mentioned provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code. The use of mandamus to compel the performance of official duty in substantially similar eases is not new in California. (See People v. Board of Supervisors (1932), 126 Cal.App. 670, 672, 674 [15 P.2d 209] (mandamus to compel board of supervisors to cancel taxes); State Land Settlement Board v. Henderson (1925), 197 Cal. 470 [241 P. 560] (to compel cancellation of tax liens); see also Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation Dist. v. Klukkert (1939), 13 Cal.2d 191 [88 P.2d 685] (to prohibit assessment); Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District v. Ohrt (1939), 31 Cal.App.2d 619 [88 P.2d 763] (mandamus to compel board of supervisors to cancel an assessment of taxes).)
For the reasons above delineated I would hold that section 15 of article XIII of the California Constitution does not divest this court of jurisdiction or judicial power to issue mandate, in cases otherwise proper, to compel performance of official duty, including the making of assessments in the manner and the amounts provided by law, whether the taxing authority be regarded as a state officer or as a county officer.
Carter, J., concurred.
Petitioners’ application for a rehearing was denied April 29, 1948. Carter, J., and Schauer, J., voted for a rehearing.