Ogden City v. Armstrong

Citations

• 168 U.S. 224
• 18 S. Ct. 98
• 42 L. Ed. 444
• 1897 U.S. LEXIS 1719

Syllabus

<p>An examination of the record discloses that none of the complainants, save one, was assessed with a' sufficient amount of taxes, to enable him to bring the case here on appeal, and accordingly, under the doctrine of Bussell v. Stansell, 105 U. S. 303, and Gibson v.' Shufeldt, 122 TJ. S. 27, the appeal is dismissed as to such parties.</p> <p>No jurisdiction-vested in the appellant’s city council to make an assessment and levy a tax for the improvements which are the subject of this controversy until the assent of the requisite proportion of the owners of the property to be affected had been obtained, and the action of the city council in regard to that question was not conclusive.</p> <p>In order to justify a court of equity in restraining the collection of a tax, circumstances must exist bringing the case under some recognized head of equity jurisdiction ;• and this case seems plainly to be one of equitable jurisdiction, within that doctrine.</p> <p>When the illegality or fatal defect in a tax does not appear on the face of the record, courts of equity regard the case as coming within their jurisdiction.</p> <p>When the authorities have jurisdiction to act, the statutory remedy is the taxpayer’s exclusive remedy; but when the statute leaves open to judicial inquiry all questions of a jurisdictional character, a determination of such questions by an administrative board does not preclude parties aggrieved from resorting to judicial remedies.</p>