Turnbull v. County of Brunswick

Citations

• 122 Va. 645
• 95 S.E. 391
• 1918 Va. LEXIS 129

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation-Excessive Rate-Remedy.-If a local tax, legal and regular in other respects and designated for a single purpose, is levied in excess of the authorized rate, the tax is not thereby rendered invalid as to the whole amount, but only as to the excess.</p> <p>2. Taxation-Excessive Rate-Remedy-Case at Bar.-The board of supervisors of a county levied a district road tax of forty cents on the one hundred dollars and a county road tax of fifteen cents on the one hundred dollars value of real and property situate in a certain magisterial district of the county. The Code of Í904, section 944-a, sub-section 12, that before a road tax exceeding a total of fifty cents on the one hundred dollars worth of property shall be levied, the question of such tax shall be submitted to the people of the county or district affected. In the instant case, the'ques-tion was not submitted to the people, but as the entire tax was to be applied to county and district road purposes, there was no difficulty in separating the illegal excess from the tax, and therefore a judgment of the circuit court of the county exonerating plaintiffs from the excess was not erroneous.</p> <p>8. Taxation-Illegal Taxes-Remedy.-Section 571 of the Code of 1904 provides a satisfactory and adequate remedy for the taxpayer, and section 841 of the Code provides an ample remedy in all cases in which the citizens of the entire county or of any district feel themselves aggrieved by an alleged illegal tax.</p>