City of Santa Barbara v. Eldred

Citations

• 95 Cal. 378
• 30 P. 562
• 1892 Cal. LEXIS 833

Syllabus

<p>Action for Taxes — Issue as to Legality — Transfer from Police Court to Superior Court — Construction of Code. —In an action brought in a police court to recover taxes, where the answer raises an issue as to the legality of the tax sought to be recovered, it is the duty of the court to transfer the action to the superior court for trial, under the provisions of section 838 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which applies to police courts as well as to justices’ courts.</p> <p>Id.—Void Judgment of Police Coort—Appellate Jurisdiction. — Where the verified answer in such action discloses facts which require a transfer of the cause to the superior court, from the time of the filing of the answer the police court is ousted of its jurisdiction to proceed further upon the merits presented by the pleadings, and a judgment rendered therein is void, and the superior court has no appellate jurisdiction to try the case.</p> <p>Id. — Original Jurisdiction or Superior Court — Trial or Appeal upon Merits — Waiver or Irregularity. — The superior court has original jurisdiction in matters involving the legality of a tax, and over an action to recover a tax, the legality of which is put in issue; and where the parties proceed to trial upon the merits in such an action appealed from the police court to the superior court, over which the superior court has no appellate jurisdiction, its original jurisdiction is not affected by the irregular way in which it acquired the jurisdiction over the parties, the consent of the parties to the trial upon the merits being a waiver of the irregularity of procedure.</p> <p>Municipal Taxation — Power or City Council — Charter op Santa Barbara — Operation or Political Code. — The act of the legislature of March 10, 1874, under which the city of Santa Barbara was incorporated, providing for the levy of an annual tax, not exceeding one per cent, for the payment of bonds and interest and the current expenses of the city, one third to be devoted to the pa