Humphreys v. Nelson

Citations

• 115 Ill. 45
• 4 N.E. 637

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation—valuation of personal properly—by whom. Under the Revenue act of 1872, and the amendments thereto, the owner of personal property, or his agent, or person required to list the same, is not required to fix its valuation. The assessor, not the owner or agent, must fix its valuation, so that the same may be uniform, as nearly as practicable. If the person listing property places a valuation on it, the assessor is under no obligation to be governed in any respect by it.</p> <p>2. Same—former decisions. In Cleghorn v. Postlewaite et al. 43 Ill. 430, in giving a construction to certain sections of the revenue laws of 1845, 1849 and 1853, in which it was required that persons listing property for taxation should fix a value thereon, it was held, that when the assessor accepted a list of property made in accordance with those statutes, without question, he could not afterwards alter it without notice to the party assessed. The cases of McConkey v. Smith, 73 Ill. 313, National Bank of Shawneetown v. Cook, 77 id. 622, and Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Ry. Co. v. Johnson, 108 id. 11, refer to the doctrine announced in Cleghorn v. Postlewaite et al. with approval, although they arose under the Revenue law of 1872, which has no corresponding provisions to those controlling in the latter case. Nor was the doctrine of Cleghorn v. Postlewaite et al. material to the decision of the question before the court in either of those later cases; so what is said in them in regard to the rule in Cleghorn v. Postlewaite et al. is merely obiter dicta.</p> <p>3. Same—rights of owner—and remedies in case of over-valuation by assessor. A person whose personal property is assessed has the legal right to demand and receive of the assessor a copy of the statement of his property, showing the valuation of the same by the assessor, signed by him. Such copy should, for convenience, be requested at the time the owner furnishes a list of Ms property, or he may make the request at any time