Allen v. City of Galveston

Citations

• 51 Tex. 302

Syllabus

<p>1. Assessment—Charter—City ordinances.—Articles 1 and 2 of title 9 of the charter of the city of Galveston authorized the city council, among other things, to impose and assess a tax on each lot or fractional lot for one-third of the estimated expense of shelling the street fronting, adjoining, or opposite such lot or fractional lot. Under ordinances approved July 1,1871, and April 2,1872, an assessment was made for shelling Market street, by first ascertaining the expense of shelling the street opposite an entire block, and then assessing each lot in that block with one-third of its equal proportion of the entire expense, without regard to the actual estimated expense of shelling that portion of the street in front of the particular lot: Held—</p> <p>1. That the assessment was not of the character authorized by the charter.</p> <p>2. No power existed to make an assessment, except that which was derived from the charter.</p> <p>3. Whether the mode of assessing the property might have been less expensive to the tax-payer than if the charter power had been observed, is immaterial. The power to assess can only be exercised in the manner prescribed by the Legislature in the charter.</p> <p>2. Taxation—Assessment for local improvement.—The provisions of article 1 of title 6 of the Galveston city charter of 1876, and the tenth section of the act of August 19, 1876, “To enforce the collection of delinquent taxes on lands assessed since 1870,” refer to ordinary taxation, and not to assessments for local improvements. Such assessments are not within the meaning of the word “ taxation” as employed in our Constitutions and statutes, and its mean7 mg cannot be enlarged so as to extend the power of sale conferred in cases of delinquent taxes, to delinquent back assessments.</p> <p>3. City charter—Taxation—Assessment.—The collector of taxes for the city of Galveston was not authorized from October, 1873, to July 17,1877, to sell for unpaid taxes property which had been assesse