City of San Luis Obispo v. Pettit

Citations

• 87 Cal. 499
• 25 P. 694
• 1891 Cal. LEXIS 1011

Syllabus

<p>Taxes — Reassessment — Political Code. — Section 3649 of the Political Code, providing for the reassessment of property which has “escaped assessment ” in the preceding year, is not unconstitutional.</p> <p>Id. —Wobb “Assessment. —The word “assessment,” as used in said section, means a valid assessment.</p> <p>Assessment—Validity — Compliance with Statute—Money Paid into Court. —-An assessment which is not made as prescribed by the statute is invalid. Therefore, if the statute ¡requires money paid into court and deposited with the county treasurer to he assessed to such treasurer, and it is assessed to the plaintiff in the suit, the assessment is invalid.</p> <p>Municipal Corporation Act — Time oe Assessment — Adoption op System by City Council. — Section 871 of the municipal corporation act, which provides that the city council may adopt a system for the assessment, levy, and collection of taxes, which shall conform to the general laws of the state as nearly as circumstances will permit, “except as to the times for such assessment, levy, and collection,” does not forbid the council from selecting the time fixed for the other taxes. It simply leaves the selection of the time to the discretion of the council.</p> <p>Meaning op Words “Assessing and Collecting.”—The words “assessing and collecting ” may be so used as to include the operation called the levy of the tax.</p> <p>Municipal Ordinance — Adoption op Sections op Code by Reference to their Number. — An ordinance passed in pursuance of section 871 of the municipal corporation act may adopt certain sections of the Political Code by reference to their number.</p> <p>(Ordinance — Invalidity of Part. —If part of an ordinance is invalid, but is distinctly separable from the remainder, such remainder may stand, and the invalid portion may be rejected.</p>