Illinois Central Railroad v. Greene

Citations

• 244 U.S. 555
• 37 S. Ct. 697
• 61 L. Ed. 1309
• 1917 U.S. LEXIS 1662

Syllabus

<p>Greene v. Louisville & Interurban R. R. Co., ante, 499, followed in holding: (1) That these áre not in effect suits against the State, (2) that plaintiff has not an adequate remedy at law under § 162, Ky. Stats., and (3) that judicial relief may be granted against unlawful discrimination resulting from general and systematic undervaluations by assessors.</p> <p>Louisville & Nashville R. R. Co. v, Greene, ante, 522, followed: (1) As to the sufficiency of proof of general, systematic and notorious undervaluation of property by assessors in Kentucky, (2) in holding that the jurisdiction of- the courts extends to enjoining the collection of illegal taxes when assessed for state purposes as well as when assessed for local purposes, and (3) in holding that, as applied to an interstate railroad, the Kentucky statutes require first an apportionment of a proper share of the railroad’s total “capital stock” (tangible and intangible property) value to Kentucky, followed by a deduction from Kentucky’s portion thereof of the value of the railroad’s tangible property in that State.</p> <p>The evidence here warrants the conclusion that plaintiff’s “franchise” (intangible property) in Kentucky was valued by the Board of Valuation and Assessment upon the basis of 80 per cent, of its “capital stock” (tangible and intangible property) apportioned to that State.</p> <p>In the absence of fraud, the valuations made by an assessing board are not judicially reexaminable unless resulting from some principle of assessment which is fundamentally wrong.</p> <p>In this case no fundamentally wrong principle was involved in adopting the capitalization-of-income rather than the stock-and-bond plan for valuing a railroad system; in determining what rate of interest should be selected, or how many years’ earnings should be considered, in capitalizing; or in finding what was the net income for a given year.</p> <p>Although the fact that property is part of a system and has its uses only in connect