Huck v. Chicago & Alton Railroad

Citations

• 86 Ill. 352

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation—•leased lines of railroad considered as property of lessee. Where the charter of a railroad company authorizes it to acquire, by lease, purchase, or otherwise, any extension of its road, necessary and proper to its business, and provides that all property so acquired shall become part of the property of such corporation, and in pursuance thereof it leases other railroads forever, and provides by the terms of the leases that the roads so leased shall become, and be operated as, a part of the main line of the company leasing, the property so leased will, if not for all purposes, at least for the purposes of taxation, be regarded as the property of the company operating it under such leases.</p> <p>2. Same —legislature may authorize municipal corporations to impose. Section 1 of article 9 of the Constitution, which declares that the General Assembly shall have power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, brokers, and other classes therein enumerated, including persons or corporations owning or using franchises, does not operate as a prohibition on all other bodies to tax such persons, and for other purposes than State revenue, but the General Assembly may authorize municipal corporations to impose taxes on such persons and corporations.</p> <p>3. Same — distribution of value of capital stock of railroads among counties. Where a railroad company is operating leased roads in connection with its own, and as a part of its line, it is proper not only to assess the value of the tangible property of such leased roads against the lessee road, but, in distributing the value of the capital stock for taxation amongst the different counties in the proportion that length of the main track in each county bears to the whole length of the road in the State, the leased roads are to be considered and treated as parts of the main line.</p> <p>- 4. Same — when courts will enjoin as to property exempt. Whilst courts of equity will, in many cases, enjoin the collection of a tax sought