People ex rel. Miller v. Lee

Citations

• 112 Ill. 113

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation by cities and villages—as to the mode of levying taxes, and the prerequisites thereto—the act of 1877 construed. It was the intention of the legislature, in the act of May 23, 1877, to require incorporated Tillages and towns, as well as cities, to follow a mode of assessment and collection which would limit the sum to he assessed and collected so as not to exceed the amount before that time specifically appropriated for particular purposes; and to that end such act required the annual appropriations to be first made, and their amount ascertained, and then that the levy and assessment should be made by ordinance, for the amount so ascertained. And this is not changed by the act of May 28, 1879.</p> <p>2. Where the only attempt made to levy and collect village taxes for the year 1882, was the making and delivery by the village clerk to the county clerk, of a certificate, in substance as follows: “County clerk, B. county: At a meeting of the board of trustees of the town of M. S., county of B., and State of Illinois, a tax of seventy-five cents on the hundred dollars was levied to meet expenses of town. C. D., town clerk, ”—and no appropriation ordinance was passed, or ordinance levying the tax, it was held, that such taxes were not lawfully levied, and that judgment against lots for such tax was properly refused. The failure to pass the necessary ordinance in such case is not a merely formal defect.</p> <p>3. The act of May 23, 1877, relating to municipal taxes, requires the assessment and collection of such taxes, in all cases, to be in the manner provided for in article 8 of the general Incorporation law, which is by an ordinance fixing the appropriations and levying the amount, and certifying a copy thereof to the county clerk; and without observing these prerequisites, the tax levied will be invalid.</p> <p>4. Same—fixing amount of appropriations—as to the mode or form— and the matter of publication. An ordinance of a city, town or village, fixing t