Munson v. Miller

Citations

• 66 Ill. 380

Syllabus

<p>1. Chancery practice&emdash;¿¡roof of bill, when reguired.' Where exceptions were sustained to portions of an answer to a bill in chancery, and a hearing had on the bill and such portions of the answer as remained, there being no default taken, and no proof heard, and the concluding part of the answer contained a general traverse of the allegations of the bill, and a decree was rendered in favor of the complainant: Held, that the court erred in rendering the decree without proof of the material allegations of the bill.</p> <p>2. Taxes&emdash;equity jurisdiction to enjoin collection of. Courts of equity in this State will not enjoin the collection of a tax, unless the property upon which it is assessed is exempt from taxation, or where it is levied in a case not authorized by law, and in the absence of all legal power, or where the persons imposing it have no power conferred upon them by law to levy such a tax.</p> <p>3. Where the property is liable to the burthen under the law, and the law has authorized the tax to be imposed, and it is levied by persons or officers designated by the law to levy such a tax, equity will not interfere, but leave the parties to their legal remedies.</p> <p>4. Same&emdash;sufficiency of bill to enjoin. In this case the bill sought to enjoin the collection of taxes upon an assessment of §5810 extended upon the collector’s books by the county clerk in the year 1871, over and above the assessment returned by the assessor for that year, which it was claimed had been omitted from the assessment of the taxes for the previous year. The bill failed to show that the property described wa£ assessed and paid a tax for the year 1870, or that the assessor that year placed it on the assessment roll for taxation, or that it was for any reason exempt: Held, that as the county clerk was not only authorized but required by law' to assess and enter on the list for taxation any property omitted from the list in the preceding year, the bill on its face s