Pennington v. Coe

Citations

• 57 Ill. 118

Syllabus

<p>1. School tax—lien. Where directors of schools employed a person to build a school house, and they levy a tax to pay therefor, and issue orders to the contractor on the treasurer for his pay, and he sells the orders at par to raise money to construct the building, the purchasers of such orders have the right to look to the tax thus levied for payment.</p> <p>2. Where the people of the district vote to build a school house and locate the same, subsequent elections for borrowing money therefor, resulting in the negative, do not affect the validity of the result of the first election. The people may have been willing to be taxed for building a school house, and not willing to borrow money and pay ten per cent interest for the purpose.</p> <p>3. School directors have the right to levy a special tax for school purposes without a vote, aud a special tax for building purposes by a vote of the people; but they exceed their power-when they attempt to appropriate the funds raised for a specific object to a different purpose. The holders of the orders had an equitable lien upon this fund, and the attempt to divert it to a purpose foreign to the express vote of the people, was a fraud and misapplication.</p> <p>4. Decebe—construction of. Where the decree directed the treasurer to pay the sum due for building the school house, or so much or such part of that sum as may not be otherwise appropriated so in his hands, and the balance of the sum out of any funds in his hands, or that might come to his hands, belonging to the district, not otherwise appropriated: Held, the treasurer would not be in contempt, under this decree, in refusing to pay to complainants all money expressly appropriated by law, and in refusing t.o pay, under the decree, funds obtained for the support and to defray the expense of schools.</p>